Exocytotic System Research Articles

Electrochemcial Detection of Acetylcholine using Enzyme Functionalized Nanoparticles

Acetylcholine is a highly important non-electroactive neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. Its function is linked to memory and sleep, and it regulates, in part, mood and action via its connection to dopamine. A fast, sensitive method to detect the release of acetylcholine at the surface of a single cell is needed to gather data about the kinetics of exocytosis events in these systems.To this end, carbon fiber electrodes have been modified with electrodeposited gold nanoparticles to increase the effective electrode surface area and provide a high curvature surface for enzyme attachment. Acetylcholinesterase and choline oxidase were then deposited onto the gold surfaces to catalyze acetylcholine to hydrogen peroxide for electrochemical detection. The functionalized electrodes have been characterized to determine the KM and Vmax of the enzymes as well as the total enzyme coverage and gold nanoparticle surface area in order to optimize retained enzyme activity. This optimized design has proven capable of detecting release events from an artificial exocytotic system on a sub-second time scale.

Syntaxin and VAMP association with lipid rafts depends on cholesterol depletion in capacitating sperm cells

Sperm cells represent a special exocytotic system since mature sperm cells contain only one large secretory vesicle, the acrosome, which fuses with the overlying plasma membrane during the fertilization process. Acrosomal exocytosis is believed to be regulated by activation of SNARE proteins. In this paper, we identified specific members of the SNARE protein family, i.e., the t-SNAREs syntaxin1 and 2, and the v-SNARE VAMP, present in boar sperm cells. Both syntaxins were predominantly found in the plasma membrane whereas v-SNAREs are mainly located in the outer acrosomal membrane of these cells. Under non-capacitating conditions both syntaxins and VAMP are scattered in well-defined punctate structures over the entire sperm head. Bicarbonate-induced in vitro activation in the presence of BSA causes a relocalization of these SNAREs to a more homogeneous distribution restricted to the apical ridge area of the sperm head, exactly matching the site of sperm zona binding and subsequent induced acrosomal exocytosis. This redistribution of syntaxin and VAMP depends on cholesterol depletion and closely resembles the previously reported redistribution of lipid raft marker proteins. Detergent-resistant membrane isolation and subsequent analysis shows that a significant proportion of syntaxin emerges in the detergent-resistant membrane (raft) fraction under such conditions, which is not the case under those conditions where cholesterol depletion is blocked. The v-SNARE VAMP displays a similar cholesterol depletion-dependent lateral and raft redistribution. Taken together, our results indicate that redistribution of syntaxin and VAMP during capacitation depends on association of these SNAREs with lipid rafts and that such a SNARE-raft association may be essential for spatial control of exocytosis and/or regulation of SNARE functioning.

Diphenylhydantoin Suppresses Glucose-Induced Insulin Release by Decreasing Cytoplasmic H+ Concentration in Pancreatic Islets

Diphenylhydantoin (DPH), which is clinically used in the treatment of epilepsy, inhibits glucose-induced insulin release from pancreatic islets by a mechanism that remains unknown. In the present study, DPH is shown to suppress glucose-induced insulin release concentration-dependently. In dynamic experiments, 20 microm DPH suppressed 16.7 mm glucose-induced biphasic insulin release. DPH also suppressed insulin release in the presence of 16.7 mm glucose, 200 microm diazoxide, and 30 mm K+ without affecting the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. DPH suppressed ATP content and mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization in the presence of 16.7 mm glucose without affecting glucose utilization, glucose oxidation, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate fluorescence. DPH increased cytoplasmic pH in the presence of high glucose, but the increase was abolished under Na+ -deprived conditions and HCO3- -deprived conditions, suggesting that Na+ and HCO3- transport across the plasma membrane are involved in the increase in cytoplasmic pH by DPH. Alkalization by adding NH4+ to the extracellular medium also suppressed insulin release, ATP content, and mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization. Because ATP production from the mitochondrial fraction in the presence of substrates was decreased by increased pH in the medium, DPH suppresses mitochondrial ATP production by reducing the H+ gradient across mitochondrial membrane. Using permeabilized islets, the increase in pH was shown to decrease Ca2+ efficacy at a clamped concentration of ATP in the exocytotic system. Taken together, DPH inhibits glucose-induced insulin secretion not only by inhibiting mitochondrial ATP production, but also by reducing Ca2+ efficacy in the exocytotic system through its alkalizing effect on cytoplasm.

Molecular aspects of rapid, reversible, Ca 2+-dependent de-phosphorylation of pp63/parafusin during stimulated exo-endocytosis in Paramecium cells

Ca 2+ signalling governs stimulated exocytosis and exocytosis-coupled endocytosis also in Paramecium cells. Upon stimulation, the ≤10 3 dense-core exocytotic organelles (trichocysts) can be synchronously (80 ms) released, followed by endocytotic membrane resealing (350 ms) and retrieval. Paramecium is the most synchronous dense-core exocytotic system known, allowing to dissect rapidly reversible Ca 2+-dependent phenomena. This holds for the reversible de-/re-phosphorylation cycle of a 63 kD phosphoprotein, pp63/parafusin (pf), which we have cloned, immuno-localised, and characterised as phosphoglucomutase, the enzyme funneling glucose into the glycolytic pathway. It was isolated ex vivo, followed by MALDI analysis, while X-ray structure analysis was performed after heterologous expression. We found multiple phosphorylation of superficial Ser/Thr residues. Although present also in exo − mutants, pp63/pf is selectively de-phosphorylated only in exo + strains during synchronous exocytosis (80 ms) and re-phosphorylated within ∼20 s, i.e., the time required to re-establish [Ca 2+] homeostasis. We have isolated relevant protein phosphatases and kinases and probed their activity on pp63/pf in vitro. We consider Ca 2+/calmodulin-activated PP2B (calcineurin, whose subunits have been cloned) relevant for de-phosphorylation. Re-phosphorylation can be achieved by two protein kinases that also have been cloned. One is activated by cGMP (PKG) which in turn is formed by Ca 2+-activated guanylate cyclase. Another kinase, casein kinase 2, is inhibited by Ca 2+ and, hence, activated with some delay in parallel to decreasing [Ca 2+] after exocytosis. In total, several Ca 2+-sensitive cycles cooperate whose protein components have been localised to the cell cortex. Regulation of the phosphorylation degree of pp63/pf may affect structure binding on a microscale and/or its enzymatic activity. All this may serve fueling substrate into glycolysis with increased ATP re-formation (compromised in exo − mutants) and NADH formation, with effects on Ca 2+ signalling including mobilisation from cortical stores (alveolar sacs) and overall effects on ATP and Ca 2+ dynamics during synchronous exo- and endocytosis.

Chronic exposure to beta-hydroxybutyrate inhibits glucose-induced insulin release from pancreatic islets by decreasing NADH contents.

To investigate the effects of chronic exposure to ketone bodies on glucose-induced insulin secretion, we evaluated insulin release, intracellular Ca2+ and metabolism, and Ca2+ efficacy of the exocytotic system in rat pancreatic islets. Fifteen-hour exposure to 5 mM d-beta-hydroxybutyrate (HB) reduced high glucose-induced insulin secretion and augmented basal insulin secretion. Augmentation of basal release was derived from promoting the Ca2+-independent and ATP-independent component of insulin release, which was suppressed by the GDP analog. Chronic exposure to HB affected mostly the second phase of glucose-induced biphasic secretion. Dynamic experiments showed that insulin release and NAD(P)H fluorescence were lower, although the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+](i)) was not affected 10 min after exposure to high glucose. Additionally, [Ca2+](i) efficacy in exocytotic system at clamped concentrations of ATP was not affected. NADH content, ATP content, and ATP-to-ADP ratio in the HB-cultured islets in the presence of high glucose were lower, whereas glucose utilization and oxidation were not affected. Mitochondrial ATP production shows that the respiratory chain downstream of complex II is not affected by chronic exposure to HB, and that the decrease in ATP production is due to decreased NADH content in the mitochondrial matrix. Chronic exposure to HB suppresses glucose-induced insulin secretion by lowering the ATP level, at least partly by inhibiting ATP production by reducing the supply of NADH to the respiratory chain. Glucose-induced insulin release in the presence of aminooxyacetate was not reduced, which implies that chronic exposure to HB affects the malate/aspartate shuttle and thus reduces NADH supply to mitochondria.

Life-long effects of perinatal asphyxia on stress-induced proteins and dynamin 1 in rat brain.

In previous work, we have shown that perinatal asphyxia (PA) in the rat leads to life-long neurotransmitter deficits and impairment of cognitive functions and behavior. This observation made us examine protein expression in hippocampus of rats with PA at the end of the life span. We applied a well-documented and characterized animal model of PA. Pups, normoxic and asphyxiated for 20 min, were brought up until the age of 24 months and then were sacrificed. Hippocampal tissue was dissected from the brains, and proteins were run on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with in-gel digestion and subsequent identification of proteins by MALDI-TOF followed by quantification of protein spots by specific software. In hippocampus of rats with PA, the stress proteins protein disulfide isomerase A3 precursor and stress-induced phosphoprotein-1 were significantly increased, whereas the microtubule-associated protein dynamin-1 was significantly reduced. Increased stress protein levels may represent long-term effects of PA or, alternatively, could reflect conditioning of the stress protein machinery known to occur as a neuroprotective principle following hypoxic-ischemic conditions. Decreased dynamin-1 levels may be considered as a long-term effect on the exocytotic system possibly reflecting or leading to impaired neuronal transport and vesicle-trafficking in PA of the rat of advanced age.

Estrogen enhances depolarization-induced glutamate release through activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Changes in synaptic efficacy are considered necessary for learning and memory. Recently, it has been suggested that estrogen controls synaptic function in the central nervous system. However, it is unclear how estrogen regulates synaptic function in central nervous system neurons. We found that estrogen potentiated presynaptic function in cultured hippocampal neurons. Chronic treatment with estradiol (1 or 10 nm) for 24 h significantly increased a high potassium-induced glutamate release. The estrogen-potentiated glutamate release required the activation of both phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and MAPK. The high potassium-evoked release with or without estradiol pretreatment was blocked by tetanus neurotoxin, which is an inhibitor of exocytosis. In addition, the reduction in intensity of FM1-43 fluorescence, which labeled presynaptic vesicles, was enhanced by estradiol, suggesting that estradiol potentiated the exocytotic mechanism. Furthermore, protein levels of synaptophysin, syntaxin, and synaptotagmin (synaptic proteins, respectively) were up-regulated by estradiol. We confirmed that the up-regulation of synaptophysin was blocked by the MAPK pathway inhibitor, U0126. These results suggested that estrogen enhanced presynaptic function through the up-regulated exocytotic system. In this study, we propose that estrogen reinforced excitatory synaptic transmission via potentiated-glutamate release from presynaptic sites.

Evaluation of Neurotoxicity of Alzheimer’s Amyloid β Protein (β42) in Cultured Hippocampal Cells and Its Prevention by Propentofylline

Neurotoxicity of β42 (20 μM) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons was evaluated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release methods as quantitative assays of cell death, and both methods indicated that propentofylline (PPF) had the ability to protect the neurons against the toxicity, although these two assay methods revealed different mechanisms for the toxic effect of β42. Promotion of the active exocytotic system of the cells was suggested after treatment with β42 in the MTT assay and in determination of 9-aminoacridine (AA) excretion from the preloaded cells after 24-h treatment with β42. The promotion of AA exocytosis was blocked by the addition of PPF (20 μg/ml). The preventive effect of PPF on the neurotoxicity of β42 has been proposed to be caused by elevation of the intracellular level of cAMP as a result of depression of the hydrolytic activity of cells.

An insulinotropic effect of vitamin D analog with increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration in pancreatic beta-cells through nongenomic signal transduction.

The effect of 1alpha,25-dihydroxylumisterol3 (1alpha,25(OH)2lumisterol3) on insulin release from rat pancreatic beta-cells was measured to investigate the nongenomic action of vitamin D via the putative membrane vitamin D receptor (mVDR). 1Alpha,25(OH)2lumisterol3, a specific agonist of mVDR, dose-dependently augmented 16.7 mM glucose-induced insulin release from rat pancreatic islets and increased the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), though not increasing Ca2+ efficacy in the exocytotic system. These effects were completely abolished by an antagonist of mVDR, 1beta,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1beta,25(OH)2D3), or by a blocker of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, nitrendipine. Moreover, both [Ca2+]i elevation, caused by membrane depolarization, and sufficient intracellular glucose metabolism are required for the expression of these effects. 1Alpha,25(OH)2lumisterol3, therefore, has a rapid insulinotropic effect, through nongenomic signal transduction via mVDR, that would be dependent on the augmentation of Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels on the plasma membrane, being also linked to metabolic signals derived from glucose in pancreatic beta-cells. However, further investigations will be needed to discuss physiologically the meaning of insulinotropic effects of vitamin D through mVDR.

The control of exocytosis in plant cells.

Exocytosis is a key event in plant cells, linking the internal and external environments. Cell-wall precursors, membrane material, and soluble and membrane-associated proteins are supplied by exocytosis and allow cells to grow and differentiate. In this review, we describe exocytotic systems in plants and summarize information on how exocytosis is controlled and itself controls cell development. Mechanisms regulating exocytosis in other organisms are outlined and some critical directions for future research on plant exocytosis are suggested. Contents Summary 307 I. Introduction 307 II. Exocytotic systems 309 III. The mechanism of exocytosis 322 IV. Conclusions and future research 329 Acknowledgements 331 References 331.

Relationship between parathyroid hormone secretion and cytosolic calcium concentration in dispersed bovine parathyroid cells.

The parathyroid cell is unusual among exocytotic systems in that low extracellular Ca2+ concentrations stimulate, while high Ca2+ concentrations inhibit, parathyroid hormone (PTH) release, suggesting that this cell might have unique secretory mechanisms. In the present studies, we used the Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye QUIN -2 to examine the relationship between cytosolic Ca2+ concentration and PTH release in dispersed bovine parathyroid cells. The secretagogue dopamine, which enhances PTH release 2- to 3-fold in association with 20- to 30-fold increases in cellular cAMP, had no effect on the cytosolic Ca2+ level (261 +/- 28 vs. 236 +/- 22 nM for control cells at 1 mM extracellular Ca2+; P greater than 0.05). Dibutyryl-cAMP, which produces a comparable stimulation of PTH release, likewise did not modify the level of cytosolic Ca2+. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ produced a further decrease of the cytosolic Ca2+ to 82 +/- 10 nM. However, PTH secretion persisted at a near maximal rate despite this decrease of extracellular and cytosolic Ca2+ and was 95 +/- 2.5% of the rate of hormonal release at 0.5 mM extracellular Ca2+. In contrast, addition of the divalent cation ionophore ionomycin to parathyroid cells at 1.0 mM extracellular Ca2+ inhibited PTH secretion in association with an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ from 230 +/- 13 nM to 570 +/- 50 nM. Moreover, the magnitude of the ionomycin-induced reduction in PTH secretion (64 +/- 4% relative to the secretory rate at 0.5 mM Ca2+) was equivalent to the inhibition of PTH release caused by 1.5 mM extracellular Ca2+ (64 +/- 6%), which increased the cytosolic Ca2+ to similar levels (450 +/- 48 nM). Thus, the parathyroid cell differs from secretory cells thought to operate by stimulus-secretion coupling in the following ways: changes in PTH release can occur without detectable alterations in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, maximal rates of PTH secretion occur at cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations that fail to support exocytosis in other cell types, and increases in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration due to ionomycin inhibit rather than stimulate PTH release. Therefore, the control of PTH secretion by Ca2+ and other secretagogues may involve previously undefined mechanisms whereby hormonal release is relatively independent of the cytosolic Ca2+ at low levels of this parameter and is inversely related to cytosolic Ca2+ at higher levels of intracellular Ca2+.

Extracellular calcium is not necessary for acute, low calcium- or dopamine-stimulated PTH secretion in dispersed bovine parathyroid cells

Although elevated extracellular calcium concentrations inhibit PTH release, little is known about the necessity of extracellular calcium for the secretory process in this cell type. In the studies reported here, we examined the effects of low extracellular calcium concentrations on basal and agonist-stimulated immunoreactive PTH (iPTH) release in dispersed bovine parathyroid cells. There was a difference of 15% or less in the rate of iPTH release from cells exposed for 30–60 minutes to calcium concentrations varying from less than 10 −8 mol/L to 1 mmol/L. Low calcium concentrations likewise had no effect on dopamine-stimulated iPTH secretion. We employed high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to demonstrate directly that EGTA did not alter the degradation of PTH in the medium and that the release of intact PTH was stimulated slightly by very low extracellular calcium concentrations. Like iPTH release, both the basal and dopamine-stimulated cAMP content in parathyroid cells were unchanged by extracellular calcium concentrations as low as 10 −8 mol/L. Following exposure of cells to EGTA for two or more hours, there was a 50% to 60% inhibition of iPTH secretion. This reduction in secretory rate was not reversible, however, by the readdition of 0.1–1.0 mmol/L calcium for one hour. These results demonstrate that the secretion of PTH differs from that of many other exocytotic systems not only in that hormonal release is inhibited at high extracellular calcium concentrations but also in that extracellular calcium is not needed for acute hormonal release.

Membrane behaviour during exocytosis

Exocytosis implies the fusion of a secretory vesicle with the cell membrane and the temporary formation of a membrane continuum. The exocytotic canal thus formed allows for the discharge of the secretory contents (of a widely different chemical composition)without interruption of the cell boundary (for review see Palade, 1975). Exocytosis takes place in response to different specific (see Meldolesi et al., 1978) or to some unspecific stimuli. Furthermore, exocytosis requires always a temporary increa e of the intracellular free calcium concentration (ICa'+l ) (see Douglas . I 1964). This is at present the common d&nominator for ail exocytotic systems.