Enhanced release of dopamine- -hydroxylase from sympathetic nerves by calcium and phenoxybenzamine and its reversal by prostaglandins

Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.2.1), an enzyme localized in sympathetic synaptic vesicles, was released together with norepinephrine during in vitro stimulation of the hypogastric nerve that innervates the vas deferens of the guinea pig. Stimulation of the nerve in the presence of high concentrations of calcium (7.5 mM) or phenoxybenzamine caused a marked increase in the amounts of the enzyme and norepinephrine released into the bath. The augmentation of release of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase by 7.5 mM calcium or phenoxybenzamine was reversed by prostaglandin E(2). These findings suggest that the release of the sympathetic neurotransmitter, norepinephrine, occurs by a process of exocytosis in which the vesicular content of soluble dopamine-beta-hydroxylase is also released. The depolarization-induced exocytosis, which is stimulated by calcium, may be affected by prostaglandin E(2) or phenoxybenzamine through inhibition or enhancement of the actions of calcium in the release process.

Sympathetic reinnervation of the rat iris in organ culture

Reinnervation of sympathetically denervated rat iris by superior cervical ganglion cells has been demonstrated to occur in vitro. Return of [(3)H]norepinephrine uptake by irises incubated in contact with ganglia was associated with the reappearance of nerve fibers containing catecholamines that were demonstrable by fluorescent histochemistry. The reinnervating neurons appeared to follow the same general pattern of innervation seen in the normal iris, but the density of the neural plexus was much greater. Nerve growth factor influenced the rate and extent of innervation of the iris but not of neuronal growth within the ganglion.