Alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes linked to different mechanisms for increasing intracellular Ca2+ in smooth muscle

Receptor-mediated increases in intracellular Ca2+ levels can be caused by release from intracellular organelles and/or influx from the extracellular fluid. Noradrenaline (NA) released from sympathetic nerves acts on alpha 1-adrenoceptors to increase cytosolic Ca2+ and promote smooth muscle contraction. In many cells activation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors causes formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate which promotes Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. The mechanism by which receptor activation opens cell surface Ca2+ channels is not known, although in some cases it may be secondary to formation of inositol phosphates or release of stored intracellular Ca2+ (ref. 3). However, alpha 1-adrenoceptors have recently been shown to have different pharmacological properties in different tissues, and it has been proposed that different alpha 1-adrenoceptor subtypes may control mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ and gating of extracellular Ca2+ influx. We here report evidence for two subtypes of alpha 1-adrenoceptors which cause contractile responses through different molecular mechanisms. One subtype stimulates inositol phosphate (InsP) formation and causes contractions which are independent of extracellular Ca2+, and the other does not stimulate inositol phosphate formation and causes contractions which require the influx of extracellular Ca2+ through dihydropyridine-sensitive channels. These results suggest that neurotransmitters and hormones may control Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and influx through voltage-gated membrane channels through distinct receptor subtypes.     

Augmentation of cardiac calcium current by flash photolysis of intracellular caged-Ca2+ molecules

The entry of calcium ions into cells through voltage-activated Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane triggers many important cellular processes. The activity of these channels is regulated by several hormones and neurotransmitters, as well as intracellular messengers such as Ca2+ itself (for examples, see refs 1-9). In cardiac muscle, myoplasmic Ca2+ has been proposed to potentiate Ca2+ influx, although a direct effect of Ca2+ on these channels has not yet been demonstrated. Photosensitive 'caged-Ca2+' molecules such as nitr-5, however, provide powerful tools for investigating possible regulatory roles of Ca2+ on the functioning of Ca2+ channels. Because its affinity for Ca2+ is reduced by irradiation, nitr-5 can be loaded into cells and induced to release Ca2+ with a flash of light. By using this technique we found that the elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration directly augmented Ca2+-channel currents in isolated cardiac muscle cells from both frog and guinea pig. The time course of the current potentiation was similar to that seen with beta-adrenergic stimulation. Thus Ca2+ may work through a similar pathway, involving phosphorylation of a regulatory Ca2+-channel protein. This mechanism is probably important for the accumulation of Ca2+ and the amplification of the contractile response in cardiac muscle, and may have a role in other excitable cells.     

Regulation of Ca2+-dependent K+-channel activity in tracheal myocytes by phosphorylation

Isoprenaline is a beta-adrenergic agonist of clinical importance as a remedy for asthma. In airway smooth muscle its relaxant action is accompanied by hyperpolarization of the membrane and elevation of the level of intracellular cyclic AMP. Hyperpolarization and relaxation are also induced by drugs such as forskolin, theophylline and dibutyryl cAMP, indicating that cAMP-dependent phosphorylation is involved in producing the electrical response. Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A) has been reported to activate Ca2+-dependent K+ channels in cultured aortic smooth muscle cells and snail neurons. The membrane of tracheal smooth-muscle cells is characterized by a dense distribution of Ca2+-dependent K+-channels. We have now examined the effect of isoprenaline and protein kinase A on Ca2+-dependent K+-channels in isolated smooth muscle cells of rabbit trachea, using the patch-clamp technique. Our results show that the open-state probability of Ca2+-dependent K+-channel of tracheal myocytes is reversibly increased by either extracellular application of isoprenaline or intracellar application of protein kinase A. We also show that this effect is significantly enhanced and prolonged in the presence of a potent protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid.     

Modulation of dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels by glucose metabolism in mouse pancreatic beta-cells

Glucose stimulates insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta-cell by increasing the cytosolic calcium concentration. It is believed that this increment results mainly from Ca2+ influx through dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channels because insulin secretion is abolished by dihydropyridine antagonists and is potentiated by dihydropyridine agonists. Glucose may influence Ca2+ influx through these channels in two ways: either by regulating the beta-cell membrane potential or by biochemical modulation of the channel itself. The former mechanism is well established. Glucose metabolism, by closing ATP-sensitive K+ channels, depolarizes the beta-cell membrane and initiates Ca2+-dependent electrical activity, with higher glucose concentrations further increasing Ca2+ influx by raising the frequency of action potentials. We show here that glucose metabolism also increases calcium influx directly, by modulating the activity of dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels.     

NO诱导血管平滑肌细胞凋亡中Ca~(2 )的作用

探讨了ＮＯ诱导血管平滑肌细胞凋亡与细胞内游离Ｃａ２＋之间的关系．通过粘附式细胞仪和Ｃａ２＋ 荧光探针Ｆｌｕｏ－３／ＡＭ,检测分析了ＮＯ在供体ＳＮＡＰ的作用下,血管平滑肌细胞中游离Ｃａ２＋浓度的变化; 又通过ＳＮＡＰ与维拉帕米、ＥＧＴＡ、肝素钠、普鲁卡因共同孵育的方法,观测了Ｃａ２＋浓度变化在细胞凋亡中 的作用．得出ＳＮＡＰ能使细胞中游离Ｃａ２＋浓度升高,而胞外Ｃａ２＋内流在其中起主要作用;并且阻断胞外 Ｃａ２＋内流能够抑制ＳＮＡＰ所诱导的血管平滑肌细胞的凋亡．提示了胞内Ｃａ２＋浓度升高可能是ＳＮＡＰ诱导血管 平滑肌细胞凋亡的一条途径．     

A functional correlate for the dihydropyridine binding site in rat brain

Calcium channels, controlling the influx of extracellular Ca2+ and hence neurotransmitter release, exist in the brain. However, drugs classed as calcium antagonists and which inhibit Ca2+ entry through voltage-activated Ca2+ channels in heart and smooth muscle, seem not to affect any aspect of neuronal function in the brain at pharmacologically relevant concentrations. Yet the dihydropyridine calcium antagonists (for example, nitrendipine) bind stereospecifically with high affinity to a recognition site on brain-cell membranes thought to represent the Ca2+ channel and consequently, the physiological relevance of these sites has been questioned. However, activation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels can increase cytoplasmic Ca2+ and neurotransmitter release in neuronal tissue. We show here that Bay K8644, a dihydropyridine Ca2+-channel activator, can augment K+-stimulated release of serotonin from rat frontal cortex slices and that these effects can be antagonized by low concentrations of calcium antagonists. As 3H-dihydropyridine binding to cortical membrane preparations resembles the binding in heart and smooth muscle where there are good functional correlates we conclude that the dihydropyridine binding sites in the brain represent functional Ca2+ channels that can be unmasked under certain circumstances.     

Depletion of intracellular calcium stores activates a calcium current in mast cells.

In many cell types, receptor-mediated Ca2+ release from internal stores is followed by Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane. The sustained entry of Ca2+ is thought to result partly from the depletion of intracellular Ca2+ pools. Most investigations have characterized Ca2+ influx indirectly by measuring Ca(2+)-activated currents or using Fura-2 quenching by Mn2+, which in some cells enters the cells by the same influx pathway. But only a few studies have investigated this Ca2+ entry pathway more directly. We have combined patch-clamp and Fura-2 measurements to monitor membrane currents in mast cells under conditions where intracellular Ca2+ stores were emptied by either inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, ionomycin, or excess of the Ca2+ chelator EGTA. The depletion of Ca2+ pools by these independent mechanisms commonly induced activation of a sustained calcium inward current that was highly selective for Ca2+ ions over Ba2+, Sr2+ and Mn2+. This Ca2+ current, which we term ICRAC (calcium release-activated calcium), is not voltage-activated and shows a characteristic inward rectification. It may be the mechanism by which electrically nonexcitable cells maintain raised intracellular Ca2+ concentrations and replenish their empty Ca2+ stores after receptor stimulation.     

Metabolic stabilization of endplate acetylcholine receptors regulated by Ca2+ influx associated with muscle activity.

During formation of the neuromuscular junction, acetylcholine receptors in the endplate membrane become metabolically stabilized under neural control, their half-life increasing from about 1 day to about 10 days. The metabolic stability of the receptors is regulated by the electrical activity induced in the muscle by innervation. We report here that metabolic stabilization of endplate receptors but not of extrajunctional receptors can be induced in the absence of muscle activity if muscles are treated with the calcium ionophore A23187. Acetylcholine receptor stabilization was also induced by culturing non-stimulated muscle in elevated K+ with the Ca2+ channel activator (+)-SDZ202-791. Conversely, activity-dependent receptor stabilization is prevented in muscle stimulated in the presence of the Ca2+ channel blockers (+)-PN200-110 or D-600. Treatment of muscles with ryanodine, which induces Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the absence of activity, does not cause stabilization of junctional receptors. Evidently, muscle activity induces metabolic acetylcholine receptor stabilization by way of an influx of Ca2+ ions through dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels in the endplate membrane, whereas Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum is ineffective in this developmental process.     

Acetylcholine activates an inward current in single mammalian smooth muscle cells

Acetylcholine, the major excitatory neurotransmitter to the smooth muscle of mammalian intestine, is known to depolarize smooth muscle cells with an apparent increase in membrane conductance. However, the ionic mechanisms that are triggered by muscarinic receptor activation and underlie this response are poorly understood, due in part to the technical problems associated with the electrophysiological study of smooth muscle. The muscarinic action of acetylcholine in certain neurones has been shown to involve the switching off of a resting K+ current (M-current) and a similar mechanism has recently also been identified in smooth muscle of amphibian stomach. We have now applied the patch-clamp technique to single smooth muscle cells of rabbit jejunum and find that muscarinic receptor activation switches on a nonselective, voltage-sensitive inward current. In addition, acetylcholine activates and then suppresses spontaneous K+ current transients, which are probably triggered by rises in intracellular Ca2+ in these cells.     

A novel receptor-operated Ca2+-permeable channel activated by ATP in smooth muscle

Receptor-operated Ca2+ entry has been proposed as a signalling mechanism in many cells. Receptor-operated Ca2+ channels (ROCs) were first postulated in smooth muscle by Bolton, van Breemen and Somlyo and Somlyo, but recordings of directly ligand-gated Ca2+ current are lacking. Here we describe receptor-operated Ca2+ current evoked in arterial smooth muscle cells by ATP, a sympathetic neurotransmitter. ATP activates channels with approximately 3:1 selectivity for Ca2+ over Na+ at near-physiological concentrations and with a unitary conductance of approximately 5 pS in 110 mM Ca2+ or Ba2+. The channels can be opened even at very negative potentials and resist inhibition by cadmium or nifedipine, unlike voltage-gated Ca2+ channels; they are not blocked by Mg2+, unlike NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate)-activated channels; they are directly activated by ligand, without involvement of readily diffusible second messengers, unlike cation channels in neutrophils and T lymphocytes. Thus, the ATP-activated channels provide a distinct mechanism for excitatory synaptic current and Ca2+ entry in smooth muscle.     

Calcium entry through stretch-inactivated ion channels in mdx myotubes.

Recent advances in understanding the molecular basis of human X-linked muscular dystrophies have come from the identification of dystrophin, a cytoskeletal protein associated with the surface membrane. Although there is little or virtually no dystrophin in affected individuals, it is not known how this causes muscle degeneration. One possibility is that the membrane of dystrophic muscle is weakened and becomes leaky to Ca2+. In muscle from mdx mice, an animal model of the human disease, intracellular Ca2+ is elevated and associated with a high rate of protein degradation. The possibility that a lack of dystrophin alters the resting permeability of skeletal muscle to Ca2+ prompted us to compare Ca2(+)-permeable ionic channels in muscle cells from normal and mdx mice. We now show that recordings of single-channel activity from mdx myotubes are dominated by the presence of Ca2(+)-permeable mechano-transducing ion channels. Like similar channels in normal skeletal muscle, they are rarely open at rest, but open when the membrane is stretched by applying suction to the electrode. Other channels in mdx myotubes, however, are often open for extended periods of time at rest and close when suction is applied to the electrode. The results show a novel type of mechano-transducing ion channel in mdx myotubes that could provide a pathway for Ca2+ to leak into the cell.     

Dihydropyridine BAY-K-8644 activates chromaffin cell calcium channels

Douglas and Rubin suggested that "the role of acetylcholine as a transmitter at the adrenal medulla is to cause some brief change in medullary cells which allows Ca ions to penetrate them and trigger the catecholamine ejection process". The Ca2+-channel blocking agents, verapamil, nifedipine and nitrendipine, have been used widely to investigate the properties of slow Ca2+ channels in a variety of tissues, including the adrenomedullary chromaffin cell. Recently, small modifications to the nifedipine molecule produced a derivative, BAY-K-8644 (methyl-1,4-dihydro-2, 6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-pyridine-5-carboxylate), that in contrast to the Ca2+-channel blocking agents, stimulated cardiac and vascular smooth muscle contractility. We have tested whether this compound behaves as a Ca2+-channel activator at the chromaffin cell membrane as shown by Schramm et al. in smooth muscle cells. The experiments described here strongly suggest that it does so.     

STIM1 is a Ca2+ sensor that activates CRAC channels and migrates from the Ca2+ store to the plasma membrane

As the sole Ca2+ entry mechanism in a variety of non-excitable cells, store-operated calcium (SOC) influx is important in Ca2+ signalling and many other cellular processes. A calcium-release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel in T lymphocytes is the best-characterized SOC influx channel and is essential to the immune response, sustained activity of CRAC channels being required for gene expression and proliferation. The molecular identity and the gating mechanism of SOC and CRAC channels have remained elusive. Previously we identified Stim and the mammalian homologue STIM1 as essential components of CRAC channel activation in Drosophila S2 cells and human T lymphocytes. Here we show that the expression of EF-hand mutants of Stim or STIM1 activates CRAC channels constitutively without changing Ca2+ store content. By immunofluorescence, EM localization and surface biotinylation we show that STIM1 migrates from endoplasmic-reticulum-like sites to the plasma membrane upon depletion of the Ca2+ store. We propose that STIM1 functions as the missing link between Ca2+ store depletion and SOC influx, serving as a Ca2+ sensor that translocates upon store depletion to the plasma membrane to activate CRAC channels.     

Calcium channels activated by hydrogen peroxide mediate abscisic acid signalling in guard cells

Drought is a major threat to agricultural production. Plants synthesize the hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in response to drought, triggering a signalling cascade in guard cells that results in stomatal closure, thus reducing water loss. ABA triggers an increase in cytosolic calcium in guard cells ([Ca2+]cyt) that has been proposed to include Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane. However, direct recordings of Ca2+ currents have been limited and the upstream activation mechanisms of plasma membrane Ca2+ channels remain unknown. Here we report activation of Ca2+-permeable channels in the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis guard cells by hydrogen peroxide. The H2O2-activated Ca2+ channels mediate both influx of Ca2+ in protoplasts and increases in [Ca2+]cyt in intact guard cells. ABA induces the production of H2O2 in guard cells. If H2O2 production is blocked, ABA-induced closure of stomata is inhibited. Moreover, activation of Ca2+ channels by H2O2 and ABA- and H2O2-induced stomatal closing are disrupted in the recessive ABA-insensitive mutant gca2. These data indicate that ABA-induced H2O2 production and the H2O2-activated Ca2+ channels are important mechanisms for ABA-induced stomatal closing.     

Non-uniform Ca2+ buffer distribution in a nerve cell body

In nerve cells, Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent channels in the membrane causes a transient rise in the intracellular, free Ca2+ concentration. Such changes have been shown to be important for the release of transmitter at the axon terminal and for the control of the movement of ions through channels in the soma membrane. The transient behaviour of the rise in Ca2+ concentration can, in part, be explained by the presence of sequestering systems in the cell which tend to limit the magnitude and duration of changes in internal Ca2+ (refs 7--10). It is possible that systems involved in buffering changes in internal Ca2+ are not distributed uniformly throughout the cell. This is particularly likely in the cell body, where a significant portion of the cytoplasm is occupied by the nucleus, whose buffering capacity may differ from that of other cellular regions. We report here that in the soma of a molluscan pacemaker neurone, the machinery responsible for short-term buffering of Ca2+ ions is localized near the inner surface of the plasma membrane.     

Gating of a muscle K+ channel and its dependence on the permeating ion species

In excitable cells, ions permeate the cell membrane through ionic channels, some of which open and close in response to changes in the potential difference across the membrane. It has been supposed that this opening and closing (or gating) process is largely independent of the permeating ion. However, we show here that the gating of the resting potassium permeability of frog skeletal muscle depends on the species of ion which carries current across the membrane. The potassium permeability investigated allows K+ to move in across the membrane more easily than out. This property is known as inward or anomalous rectification and is shared by cell membranes of skeletal muscle, egg and certain other cells. In both egg cells and skeletal muscle fibres, the group IIIB metal ion Tl+, which can replace K+ in several other systems in experimental conditions, also permeates the inward rectifier. Indeed, Tl+ is more permeant than K+ (refs 8, 9). However, when Tl+ carries current inwards across the membrane, the inward rectifier inactivates over a brief period when the membrane is hyperpolarized, whereas when K+ carries current, the permeability increases with time under hyperpolarization.     

Orai1 is an essential pore subunit of the CRAC channel

Stimulation of immune cells causes depletion of Ca2+ from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores, thereby triggering sustained Ca2+ entry through store-operated Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels, an essential signal for lymphocyte activation and proliferation. Recent evidence indicates that activation of CRAC current is initiated by STIM proteins, which sense ER Ca2+ levels through an EF-hand located in the ER lumen and relocalize upon store depletion into puncta closely associated with the plasma membrane. We and others recently identified Drosophila Orai and human Orai1 (also called TMEM142A) as critical components of store-operated Ca2+ entry downstream of STIM. Combined overexpression of Orai and Stim in Drosophila cells, or Orai1 and STIM1 in mammalian cells, leads to a marked increase in CRAC current. However, these experiments did not establish whether Orai is an essential intracellular link between STIM and the CRAC channel, an accessory protein in the plasma membrane, or an actual pore subunit. Here we show that Orai1 is a plasma membrane protein, and that CRAC channel function is sensitive to mutation of two conserved acidic residues in the transmembrane segments. E106D and E190Q substitutions in transmembrane helices 1 and 3, respectively, diminish Ca2+ influx, increase current carried by monovalent cations, and render the channel permeable to Cs+. These changes in ion selectivity provide strong evidence that Orai1 is a pore subunit of the CRAC channel.     

Slow inward calcium currents have no obvious role in muscle excitation-contraction coupling

It has been proposed that an influx of calcium ions into twitch muscle fibres during an action potential might initiate contraction. However, when external Ca2+ is lowered to 10(-8) M with EGTA, the fibres can produce normal twitches for many minutes. Nevertheless, a clear Ca2+ influx during contraction has been demonstrated, and it has been found that phasic skeletal muscle has an inward calcium current (ICa) which can give rise to calcium spikes. In certain conditions, a reduction in external Ca2+ with 80-90 mM EGTA results in reversible blockade of excitation-contraction (e-c) coupling, leading some authors to suggest that extracellular Ca2+ moved into the myoplasm due to ICa may be involved in the e-c coupling mechanism that triggers contraction. This proposition was further supported by the localization of ICa in the T-system, which circumvented the problem of the delay due to calcium diffusion from the surface membrane. We have now investigated whether ICa has a clear role in initiating or sustaining contractions in twitch muscle fibres. Our approach was to decrease or eliminate ICa with the calcium-blocking agent diltiazem (Herbesser) and to see how the twitch, tetanic and potassium-contracture tensions were affected. We found that ICa could be decreased or cancelled with the calcium-blocking agent, but that the same concentration of the drug potentiated the twitch, tetanus and contractures. We conclude, therefore, that ICa has no role in e-c coupling. A preliminary report of these results has been presented elsewhere.     

Use of chlorotetracycline fluorescence to demonstrate Ca2+-induced release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skinned cardiac cells.

It has been proposed that the trans-sarcolemmal influx of Ca2+ occurring during the plateau of the mammalian cardiac action potentials is insufficient in itself to activate the myofilaments, but can trigger a release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) which is sufficient for activation. The demonstration of this Ca2+-induced release of Ca2+ relied entirely on experiments in which the tension developed by the myofilaments was used as a sensor of the changes of myoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration ([free Ca2+]) in segments of single cardiac cells from which the sarcolemma had been removed by microdissection (skinned cardiac cells). The small size of these preparations has previously prevented the use of more direct methods for the detection of myoplasmic Ca2+ movements. The present study is a direct demonstration of Ca2+-induced release of Ca2+ from the SR of skinned cardiac cells treated with chlorotetracycline (CTC), a fluorescent chelate probe which enables changes in the amount of Ca2+ bound to a variety of biological membranes or micelles to be monitored. The fluorescence increases when more Ca2+ is bound.     

The structural basis of calcium transport by the calcium pump

The sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, a P-type ATPase, has a critical role in muscle function and metabolism. Here we present functional studies and three new crystal structures of the rabbit skeletal muscle Ca2+-ATPase, representing the phosphoenzyme intermediates associated with Ca2+ binding, Ca2+ translocation and dephosphorylation, that are based on complexes with a functional ATP analogue, beryllium fluoride and aluminium fluoride, respectively. The structures complete the cycle of nucleotide binding and cation transport of Ca2+-ATPase. Phosphorylation of the enzyme triggers the onset of a conformational change that leads to the opening of a luminal exit pathway defined by the transmembrane segments M1 through M6, which represent the canonical membrane domain of P-type pumps. Ca2+ release is promoted by translocation of the M4 helix, exposing Glu 309, Glu 771 and Asn 796 to the lumen. The mechanism explains how P-type ATPases are able to form the steep electrochemical gradients required for key functions in eukaryotic cells.