Renin, the rate limiting enzyme in the formation of angiotensin-II, is synthesized and stored in granules in juxtaglomerular (JG) cells. Therefore, the controlled mechanism involved in renin release is essential for the regulation of blood pressure. Exocytosis of renin containing granules is likely involved in renin release; a process stimulated by cAMP. We found that the SNARE protein VAMP2 mediates cAMP-stimulated renin release and exocytosis in JG cells. To mediate exocytosis, VAMP2 must interact with a synaptosome associated protein (SNAP). In the renal cortex, the isoform SNAP23 is abundantly expressed. We hypothesized that SNAP23 mediates cAMP-stimulated renin release from primary cultures of mouse JG cells. We found that SNAP23 protein is expressed and co-localized with renin containing-granules in primary cultures of mouse JG cell lysates. Thus, we then tested the involvement of SNAP23 in cAMP-stimulated renin release by transducing JG cells with a dominant-negative SNAP23 construct. In control JG cells transduced with a scrambled sequence, increasing cAMP stimulated renin release from 1.3 ± 0.3 to 5.3 ± 1.2% of renin content. In cells transduced with dominant-negative SNAP23, cAMP increased renin from 1.0 ± 0.1 to 3.0 ± 0.6% of renin content, a 50% blockade. Botulinum toxin E, which cleaves and inactivates SNAP23, reduced cAMP-stimulated renin release by 42 ± 17%. Finally, adenovirus-mediated silencing of SNAP23 significantly blocked cAMP-stimulated renin release by 50 ± 13%. We concluded that the SNARE protein SNAP23 mediates cAMP-stimulated renin release. These data show that renin release is a SNARE-dependent process.
