scholarly journals Impaired Inhibitory G-Protein Function Contributes to Increased Calcium Currents in Rats With Diabetic Neuropathy

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 760-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. Hall ◽  
Jackie Liu ◽  
Anders A. F. Sima ◽  
John W. Wiley

There is a growing body of evidence that sensory neuropathy in diabetes is associated with abnormal calcium signaling in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Enhanced influx of calcium via multiple high-threshold calcium currents is present in sensory neurons of several models of diabetes mellitus, including the spontaneously diabetic BioBred/Worchester (BB/W) rat and the chemical streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rat. We believe that abnormal calcium signaling in diabetes has pathologic significance as elevation of calcium influx and cytosolic calcium release has been implicated in other neurodegenerative conditions characterized by neuronal dysfunction and death. Using electrophysiologic and pharmacologic techniques, the present study provides evidence that significant impairment of G-protein-coupled modulation of calcium channel function may underlie the enhanced calcium entry in diabetes. N- and P-type voltage-activated, high-threshold calcium channels in DRGs are coupled to μ opiate receptors via inhibitory Go-type G proteins. The responsiveness of this receptor coupled model was tested in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from spontaneously-diabetic BB/W rats, and streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetic rats. Intracellular dialysis with GTPγS decreased calcium current amplitude in diabetic BB/W DRG neurons compared with those of age-matched, nondiabetic controls, suggesting that inhibitory G-protein activity was diminished in diabetes, resulting in larger calcium currents. Facilitation of calcium current density ( I DCa) by large-amplitude depolarizing prepulses (proposed to transiently inactivate G proteins), was significantly less effective in neurons from BB/W and STZ-induced diabetic DRGs. Facilitation was enhanced by intracellular dialysis with GTPγS, decreased by pertussis toxin, and abolished by GDPβS within 5 min. Direct measurement of GTPase activity using opiate-mediated GTPγ[35S] binding, confirmed that G-protein activity was significantly diminished in STZ-induced diabetic neurons compared with age-matched nondiabetic controls. Diabetes did not alter the level of expression of μ opiate receptors and G-protein α subunits. These studies indicate that impaired regulation of calcium channels by G proteins is an important mechanism contributing to enhanced calcium influx in diabetes.

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1236-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Ristic ◽  
Shanthi Srinivasan ◽  
Karen E. Hall ◽  
Anders A. F. Sima ◽  
John W. Wiley

Ristic, Helen, Shanthi Srinivasan, Karen E. Hall, Anders A. F. Sima, and John W. Wiley. Serum from diabetic BB/W rats enhances calcium currents in primary sensory neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1236–1244, 1998. We examined the hypothesis that exposure of nondiabetic rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to sera from diabetic BB/W rats would produce an increase in calcium currents associated with impaired regulation of the inhibitory G protein–calcium channel complex. Acutely dissociated rat DRGs were incubated for 18–24 h in medium supplemented with sera (10% vol/vol) from either diabetic rats with neuropathy or age-matched, nondiabetic controls. Exposure of DRG neurons to sera from diabetic BB/W rats resulted in a surface membrane immunofluorescence pattern when treated with an anti-rat light-chain antibody that was not observed in neurons exposed to control sera. Calcium current density ( I DCa) was assessed with the use of the whole cell variation of the patch-clamp technique. I DCa in neurons exposed to diabetic sera was significantly increased compared with neurons exposed to control sera. Guanine nucleotide-binding (G) protein regulation of calcium channel function was examined with the use of a two-pulse “facilitation” or I DCa enhancement protocol in the presence of activators [guanosine 5′-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS)] or antagonists [guanosine 5′-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDPβS) and pertussis toxin (PTX)] of G protein function. Facilitation was significantly decreased in neurons exposed to diabetic sera. Intracellular diffusion of neurons with GDPβs blocked facilitation, whereas dialysis with GTPγs increased facilitation to a similar magnitude in neurons exposed to either diabetic or control sera. Treatment with PTX resulted in a significant increase in I DCa and ∼50% decrease in facilitation in neurons treated with control sera but no significant changes in neurons exposed to diabetic sera. We conclude that serum from diabetic BB/W rats with neuropathy contains an autoimmune immunoglobulin that impairs regulation of the inhibitory G protein–calcium channel complex, resulting in enhanced calcium influx. Regulation of the inhibitory G protein–calcium channel complex involves PTX-sensitive and -insensitive G proteins.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Pastori ◽  
Alessia D’Aloia ◽  
Stefania Blasa ◽  
Marzia Lecchi

The isolation and culture of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons cause adaptive changes in the expression and regulation of ion channels, with consequences on neuronal excitability. Considering that not all neurons survive the isolation and that DRG neurons are heterogeneous, it is difficult to find the cellular subtype of interest. For this reason, researchers opt for DRG-derived immortal cell lines to investigate endogenous properties. The F-11 cell line is a hybridoma of embryonic rat DRG neurons fused with the mouse neuroblastoma line N18TG2. In the proliferative condition, F-11 cells do not display a gene expression profile correspondent with specific subclasses of sensory neurons, but the most significant differences when compared with DRGs are the reduction of voltage-gated sodium, potassium and calcium channels, and the small amounts of TRPV1 transcripts. To investigate if functional properties of mature F-11 cells showed more similarities with those of isolated DRG neurons, we differentiated them by serum deprivation. Potassium and sodium currents significantly increased with differentiation, and biophysical properties of tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive currents were similar to those characterized in small DRG neurons. The analysis of the voltage-dependence of calcium currents demonstrated the lack of low threshold activated components. The exclusive expression of high threshold activated Ca2+ currents and of TTX-sensitive Na+ currents correlated with the generation of a regular tonic electrical activity, which was recorded in the majority of the cells (80%) and was closely related to the activity of afferent TTX-sensitive A fibers of the proximal urethra and the bladder. Responses to capsaicin and substance P were also recorded in ~20% and ~80% of cells, respectively. The percentage of cells responsive to acetylcholine was consistent with the percentage referred for rat DRG primary neurons and cell electrical activity was modified by activation of non-NMDA receptors as for embryonic DRG neurons. These properties and the algesic profile (responses to pH5 and sensitivity to both ATP and capsaicin), proposed in literature to define a sub-classification of acutely dissociated rat DRG neurons, suggest that differentiated F-11 cells express receptors and ion channels that are also present in sensory neurons.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Matúš ◽  
Simone Prömel

Many vital processes during C. elegans development, especially the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity in embryogenesis, are controlled by complex signaling pathways. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), such as the four Frizzled family Wnt receptors, are linchpins in regulating and orchestrating several of these mechanisms. However, despite being GPCRs, which usually couple to G proteins, these receptors do not seem to activate classical heterotrimeric G protein-mediated signaling cascades. The view on signaling during embryogenesis is further complicated by the fact that heterotrimeric G proteins do play essential roles in cell polarity during embryogenesis, but their activity is modulated in a predominantly GPCR-independent manner via G protein regulators such as GEFs GAPs and GDIs. Further, the triggered downstream effectors are not typical. Only very few GPCR-dependent and G protein-mediated signaling pathways have been unambiguously defined in this context. This unusual and highly intriguing concept of separating GPCR function and G-protein activity, which is not restricted to embryogenesis in C. elegans but can also be found in other organisms, allows for essential and multi-faceted ways of regulating cellular communication and response. Although its relevance cannot be debated, its impact is still poorly discussed, and C. elegans is an ideal model to understand the underlying principles.


1993 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
T D Parsons ◽  
H C Hartzell

Calcium currents (ICa) were measured in frog ventricular myocytes using the whole-cell patch clamp technique and a perfused pipette. To gain insight into the role of G proteins in the regulation of ICa in intact cells, the effect of internal perfusion with hydrolysis-resistant GTP analogues, guanylyl 5'-imidodiphosphate (GppNHp) or guanosine 5'-thiotriphosphate (GTP gamma S), on ICa stimulated by isoproterenol (Iso) or forskolin (Forsk) was examined. Significant differences were observed between the effects of the two GTP analogues. Internal perfusion of GppNHp resulted in a near-complete (approximately 80%) and irreversible inhibition of Iso-stimulated ICa. In contrast, internal perfusion with GTP gamma S resulted in only a partial (approximately 40%) inhibition of Iso- or Forsk-stimulated ICa. The fraction of the current not inhibited by GTP gamma S remained persistently elevated after the washout of Iso but declined to basal levels upon washout of Forsk. Excess internal GTP or GppNHp did not reduce the persistent ICa. Internal adenosine 5'-thiotriphosphate (ATP gamma S) mimicked the GTP gamma S-induced, persistent ICa. GppNHp sometimes induced a persistent ICa, but only if GppNHp was present at high concentration before Iso exposure. Inhibitors of protein kinase A inhibited both the GTP gamma S- and ATP gamma S-induced, persistent ICa. We conclude that: (a) GTP gamma S is less effective than GppNHp in inhibiting adenylyl cyclase (AC) via the inhibitory G protein, Gi; and (b) the persistent ICa results from a long-lived Gs-GTP gamma S complex that can activate AC in the absence of Iso. These results suggest that different hydrolysis-resistant nucleotide analogues may behave differently in activating G proteins and imply that the efficacy of G protein-effector molecule interactions can depend on the GTP analogue with which the G protein is activated.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 1793-1798 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Womack ◽  
E. W. McCleskey

1. Using patch-clamp methods, we show that brief prepulses to very positive voltages increase (facilitate) the amplitude of current through Ca2+ channels during a subsequent test pulse in some, but not all, dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons. The amplitude of this facilitated current generally increases when the Ca2+ channels are inhibited by activation of the mu-opioid receptor. 2. The facilitated current is blocked by omega-conotoxin GVIA, activates in the range of high-threshold Ca2+ channels, and inactivates at relatively negative holding voltages. Thus facilitated current passes through N-type Ca2+ channels, the same channels that are inhibited by opioids and control neurotransmitter release in sensory neurons. 3. Although maximal facilitation occurs only at unphysiologically high membrane potentials (above +100 mV), some facilitation is seen after prepulses to voltages reached during action potentials. After return to the holding potential, facilitation persists for hundreds of milliseconds, considerably longer than in other neurons. Brief trains of pulses designed to mimic action potentials caused small facilitation (19% of maximal) in a fraction (8 of 24) of opioid-inhibited neurons. 4. We conclude that 1) prepulses to extremely positive voltages can cause partial recovery of Ca2+ channels inhibited by opioids; and 2) small, but detectable, facilitation is also seen after physiological stimulation in some DRG neurons. Facilitation, largely considered a biophysical epiphenomenon because of the extreme voltages used to induce it, appears to be physiologically relevant during opioid inhibition of Ca2+ channels in DRG neurons.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 2070-2081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Hurley ◽  
Katherine Graubard

Hurley, Laura M. and Katherine Graubard. Pharmacologically and functionally distinct calcium currents of stomatogastric neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2070–2081, 1998. Previous studies have suggested the presence of different types of calcium channels in different regions of stomatogastric neurons. We sought to pharmacologically separate these calcium channel types. We used two different preparations from different regions of stomatogastric neurons to screen a range of selective calcium channel blockers. The two preparations were isolated cell bodies in culture, in which calcium current was measured directly, and isolated neuromuscular junction, in which synaptic transmission was the indirect assay for presynaptic calcium influx. The selective blockers were two different dihydropyridines, ω-Agatoxin IVA, and ω-Conotoxin GVIA. Cultured cell bodies possessed both high-threshold calcium current and calcium-activated outward current, similar to intact neurons. The calcium current had transient and maintained components, but both components had the same voltage dependence of activation and inactivation. Dihydropyridines at ≥10 μM blocked both high-threshold calcium current and calcium-activated outward current. Nanomolar doses of ω-Agatoxin IVA did not block calcium current, but micromolar doses did. ω-Conotoxin GVIA did not block either current. In contrast, at the neuromuscular junction, dihydropyridines reduced the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials by only a modest amount, whereas ω-Agatoxin IVA at doses as low as 64 nM reduced the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials almost entirely. These effects were presynaptic. ω-Conotoxin GVIA did not change the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials. The different pharmacological profiles of the two isolated preparations suggest that there are at least two different types of calcium channel in stomatogastric neurons and that ω-Agatoxin IVA and dihydropridines can be used to pharmacologically distinguish them.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (6) ◽  
pp. C1171-C1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. H. Keahey ◽  
A. E. Boyd ◽  
D. L. Kunze

The mechanisms by which norepinephrine and epinephrine activate alpha 2-adrenergic receptors and inhibit insulin release from the pancreatic beta-cell (19, 21, 23) are not yet clear but may involve modulation at several sites. Because intracellular calcium has been implicated in the secretory process, it has been suggested that catecholamines may inhibit secretion by blocking calcium influx, thus reducing the free cytosolic calcium concentration (23). The present study examines the effects of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and clonidine on calcium current in an SV40-transformed hamster beta-cell line (HIT cells). Under voltage-clamp conditions, calcium currents were reversibly inhibited by norepinephrine, epinephrine, and clonidine in the low nanomolar range. The effects were blocked by 1) the alpha 2-antagonist yohimbine, 2) preincubation of the cells with pertussis toxin (PTX), and 3) guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP beta S), the nonhydrolyzable GDP analogue that competitively inhibits the interaction of GTP with G proteins. In contrast, guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) caused irreversible blockade by catecholamines. These effects could not be overcome by adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), suggesting that the adenylate cyclase pathway is not involved in the G protein coupling with the channels. These studies show that catecholamines inhibit calcium currents in beta-cells through an alpha 2-adrenoreceptor PTX-sensitive G protein pathway and could inhibit insulin secretion by this mechanism.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis I. Moore ◽  
Hiromasa Tanaka ◽  
Hyung Joon Kim ◽  
Noo Li Jeon ◽  
Tau-Mu Yi

Yeast cells polarize by projecting up mating pheromone gradients, a classic cell polarity behavior. However, these chemical gradients may shift direction. We examine how yeast cells sense and respond to a 180o switch in the direction of microfluidically generated pheromone gradients. We identify two behaviors: at low concentrations of α-factor, the initial projection grows by bending, whereas at high concentrations, cells form a second projection toward the new source. Mutations that increase heterotrimeric G-protein activity expand the bending-growth morphology to high concentrations; mutations that increase Cdc42 activity result in second projections at low concentrations. Gradient-sensing projection bending requires interaction between Gβγ and Cdc24, whereas gradient-nonsensing projection extension is stimulated by Bem1 and hyperactivated Cdc42. Of interest, a mutation in Gα affects both bending and extension. Finally, we find a genetic perturbation that exhibits both behaviors. Overexpression of the formin Bni1, a component of the polarisome, makes both bending-growth projections and second projections at low and high α-factor concentrations, suggesting a role for Bni1 downstream of the heterotrimeric G-protein and Cdc42 during gradient sensing and response. Thus we demonstrate that G-proteins modulate in a ligand-dependent manner two fundamental cell-polarity behaviors in response to gradient directional change.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Garcia-Marcos ◽  
Kshitij Parag-Sharma ◽  
Arthur Marivin ◽  
Marcin Maziarz ◽  
Alex Luebbers ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHeterotrimeric G-proteins are signal transducers that mediate the action of many natural extracellular stimuli as well as of many therapeutic agents. Non-invasive approaches to manipulate the activity of G-proteins with high precision are crucial to understand their regulation in space and time. Here, we engineered LOV2GIVe, a modular protein that allows the activation of Gi proteins with blue light. This optogenetic construct relies on a versatile design that differs from tools previously developed for similar purposes, i.e. metazoan opsins, which are light-activated GPCRs. To make LOV2GIVe, we fused a peptide derived from a non-GPCR protein that activates Gαi (but not Gαs, Gαq, or Gα12) to a small plant protein domain, such that light uncages the G-protein activating module. Targeting LOV2GIVe to cell membranes allowed for light-dependent activation of Gi proteins in different experimental systems. In summary, LOV2GIVe expands the armamentarium and versatility of tools available to manipulate heterotrimeric G-protein activity.GRAPHICAL SUMMARY


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