The mineralocorticoid hormone aldosterone controls sodium reabsorption and BP largely by regulating the cell-surface expression and function of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in target kidney tubules. Part of the stimulatory effect of aldosterone on ENaC is mediated by the induction of serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (Sgk1), a kinase that interferes with the ubiquitylation of ENaC by ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2. In vivo early aldosterone-regulated mRNA now has been identified in microselected mouse distal nephron by microarray. From 22 mRNA that displayed a two-fold or more change, 13 were downregulated and nine were upregulated. Besides Sgk1, the induced mRNA include Grem2 (protein related to DAN and cerebrus [PRDC]), activating transcription factor 3, cAMP responsive element modulator, and the ubiquitin-specific protease Usp2-45. The induction of this last enzyme isoform was verified in mouse distal nephron tubule at the protein level. With the use of Hek293 cells, Xenopus oocytes, and mpkCCD(c14) cells as expression systems, it was shown that Usp2-45 deubiquitylates ENaC and stimulates ENaC-mediated sodium transport, an effect that is not additive to that of Sgk1. A deubiquitylating enzyme that targets ENaC in vitro and thus may play a role in sodium transport regulation was identified within a series of new in vivo early aldosterone-regulated gene products.

The activity of the epithelial sodium (Na(+)) channel (ENaC) in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron (ASDN) needs to be tightly regulated to match urinary Na(+) excretion with dietary Na(+) intake. The ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2, which in vitro interacts with ENaC subunits and reduces ENaC cell surface abundance and activity by ubiquitylation of the channel, may participate in the control of ENaC. This study confirms in vivo by reverse-transcriptase-PCR that Nedd4-2 is expressed throughout the nephron and is detectable by immunoblotting in kidney extracts. By immunohistochemistry, Nedd4-2 was found to be strongly expressed in the ASDN, with low staining intensity in the late distal convoluted tubule and early connecting tubule (where apical ENaC is high) and gradually increasing detection levels toward the collecting duct (CD; where apical ENaC is low). Compared with high-Na(+) diet (5% Na(+)), 2 wk of low-Na(+) diet (0.01% Na(+)) drastically reduces Nedd4-2 immunostaining and increases apical ENaC abundance in ASDN. Reduced Nedd4-2 immunostaining is not dependent on increased apical Na(+) entry in the CD, because it is similarly observed in mice with intact and with suppressed apical ENaC activity in the CD. Consistent with a role of mineralocorticoid hormones in the long-term regulation of Nedd4-2, 5-d treatment of cultured CD (mpkCCD(cl4)) cells with 1 microM aldosterone leads to reduction of Nedd4-2 protein expression. It is concluded that Nedd4-2 abundance is regulated by Na(+) diet, by a mechanism that likely involves aldosterone. This regulation may contribute to adaptation of apical ENaC activity to altered Na(+) intake.

Aldosterone plays a central role in Na+ homeostasis by controlling Na+ reabsorption in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron involving the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). Part of the effects of aldosterone is mediated by serum and glucocorticoid-induced kinase 1 (Sgk1), a Ser/Thr kinase whose expression is rapidly induced by aldosterone and that increases in heterologous expression systems ENaC cell surface abundance and activity. Previous work in Xenopus laevis oocytes suggested that Sgk1 phosphorylates specific residues (Ser212 and Ser328) on the ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2, an enzyme that directly interacts with ENaC and negatively controls channel density at the plasma membrane. It further indicated that phosphorylation of Nedd4-2 led to impairment of ENaC/Nedd4-2 interaction and consequently to more channels at the cell surface. These data suggested a novel mode of aldosterone-dependent action, yet this was not demonstrated formally in epithelial cells that physiologically express ENaC. Here it is shown, with the use of an anti-phospho-Ser328-mNedd4-2 antibody, that 2 to 6 h of aldosterone treatment induces an increase in Nedd4-2 phosphorylation, both in a mouse cortical collecting duct cell line (mpkCCDcl4) and in kidneys of adrenalectomized rats. This augmentation, which is accompanied by a raise in Sgk1 expression and transepithelial Na+ transport, is sensitive to phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibition, as is Sgk1 phosphorylation and Na+ transport. Hence, these data provide evidence in cortical collecting duct cells in vitro and in vivo that Sgk1-dependent phosphorylation of Nedd4-2 is part of the aldosterone response.

Serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) is an aldosterone-regulated early response gene product that regulates the activity of several ion transport proteins, most notably that of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). Recent evidence has established that SGK1 phosphorylates and inhibits Nedd4-2 (neural precursor cell-expressed, developmentally down-regulated protein 4-2), a ubiquitin ligase that decreases cell surface expression of the channel and possibly stimulates its degradation. The mechanistic basis for this SGK1-induced Nedd4-2 inhibition is currently unknown. In this study we show that SGK1-mediated phosphorylation of Nedd4-2 induces its interaction with members of the 14-3-3 family of regulatory proteins. Through functional characterization of Nedd4-2-mutant proteins, we demonstrate that this interaction is required for SGK1-mediated inhibition of Nedd4-2. The concerted action of SGK1 and 14-3-3 appears to disrupt Nedd4-2-mediated ubiquitination of ENaC, thus providing a mechanism by which SGK1 modulates the ENaC-mediated Na+ current. Finally, the expression pattern of 14-3-3 is also consistent with a functional role in distal nephron Na+ transport. These results demonstrate a novel, physiologically significant role for 14-3-3 proteins in modulating ubiquitin ligase-dependent pathways in the control of epithelial ion transport.