Activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 coordinates dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase/PPAR-γ/endothelial nitric oxide synthase pathways that enhance nitric oxide generation in human glomerular endothelial cells.

Dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) degrades asymmetric dimethylarginine, which inhibits nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS). Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcriptional factor that binds to antioxidant response elements and transcribes many antioxidant genes. Because the promoters of the human DDAH-1 and DDAH-2, endothelial NOS (eNOS) and PPAR-γ genes contain 2 to 3 putative antioxidant response elements, we hypothesized that they were regulated by Nrf2/antioxidant response element. Incubation of human renal glomerular endothelial cells with the Nrf2 activator tert-butylhydroquinone (20 μmol·L(-1)) significantly (P<0.05) increased NO and activities of NOS and DDAH and decreased asymmetric dimethylarginine. It upregulated genes for hemoxygenase-1, eNOS, DDAH-1, DDAH-2, and PPAR-γ and partitioned Nrf2 into the nucleus. Knockdown of Nrf2 abolished these effects. Nrf2 bound to one antioxidant response element on DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 and PPAR-γ promoters but not to the eNOS promoter. An increased eNOS and phosphorylated eNOS (P-eNOSser-1177) expression with tert-butylhydroquinone was prevented by knockdown of PPAR-γ. Expression of Nrf2 was reduced by knockdown of PPAR-γ, whereas PPAR-γ was reduced by knockdown of Nrf2, thereby demonstrating 2-way positive interactions. Thus, Nrf2 transcribes HO-1 and other genes to reduce reactive oxygen species, and DDAH-1 and DDAH-2 to reduce asymmetric dimethylarginine and PPAR-γ to increase eNOS and its phosphorylation and activity thereby coordinating 3 pathways that enhance endothelial NO generation.