Toxin-induced K+ efflux through the Na+ channel of neuroblastoma cells

Neurotoxins which modify the gating system of the Na+ channel in neuroblastoma cells and increase the initial rate of 22Na+ influx through this channel also give rise to the efflux of 86Rb+ and 42K+. These effluxes are inhibited by tetrodotoxin and are dependent on the presence in the extracellular medium of cations permeable to the Na+ channel. These stimulated effluxes are not due to membrane depolarization or increases in the intracellular content of Na+ and Ca2+ which occur subsequent to the action of neurotoxins. The relationships of 22Na+ influx and 42K+ (or 86Rb+) effluxes to both the concentration of neurotoxins and the concentration of external permeant cations strongly suggest that the open form of the Na+ channel stabilized by neurotoxins permits an efflux of K+ ions. Our results indicate that for the efflux of each K+ ion there is a corresponding influx of two Na+ ions into the Na+ channel.

Interaction of pyrethroids with the Na+ channel in mammalian neuronal cells in culture

The interaction of a series of pyrethroids with the Na+ channel of mouse neuroblastoma cells has been followed using both an electrophysiological and a 22Na+ influx approach. By themselves, pyrethroids do not stimulate 22Na+ entry through the Na+ channel (or the stimulation they give is too small to be analyzed). However, they stimulate 22Na+ entry when used in conjunction with other toxins specific for the gating system of the channel. These include batrachotoxin, veratridine, dihydrograyanotoxin II or polypeptide toxins like sea anemone and scorpion toxins. This stimulatory effect is fully inhibited by tetrodotoxin with a dissociation constant of 1.6 nM for the tetrodotoxin-receptor complex. Half-maximum saturation of the pyrethroid receptor on the Na+ channel is observed in the micromolar range for the most active pyrethroids, Decis and RU 15525. The synergism observed between the effect of pyrethroids on 22Na+ influx on the one hand, and the effects of sea anemone toxin II, Androctonus scorpion toxin II, batrachotoxin, veratridine and dihydrograyanotoxin II on the other, indicates that the binding component for pyrethroids on the Na+ channel is distinct from the other toxin receptors. It is also distinct from the tetrodotoxin receptor. Some of the pyrethroids used in this study bind to the Na+ channel but are unable to stimulate 22Na+ entry. These inactive compounds behave as are unable to stimulate 22Na+ entry. These inactive compounds behave as antagonists of the active pyrethroids. An electrophysiological approach has shown that pyrethroids by themselves are active on the Na+ channel of mammalian neurones, and essentially confirm the conclusions made from 22Na+ flux measurements. Pyrethroids are also active on C9 cells in which Na+ channels are 'silent', that is, not activatable by electrical stimulation. Pyrethroids chemically activate the silent Na+ channel in a manner similar to that with veratridine, batrachotoxin, or polypeptide toxins, which are known to slow down the inactivation process of a functional Na+ channel.

Identification of a tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channel in a variety in fibroblast lines

The action potential Na+ ionophore of excitable cells can be activated either by alkaloid compounds such as veratridine, or by small polypeptide toxins extracted from scorpion venom or sea anemone. One of the main features of this Na+ channel is that it is blocked by tetrodotoxin (TTX). However, we report here that during analysis of Na+ influx in resting fibroblasts, we found that a variety of fibroblast lines also possess a TTX receptor. Veratridine and sea anemone toxin act synergistically to stimulate Na+ influx 7 to 10-fold in hamster and rat fibroblasts. As in excitable cells, this toxin-stimulated Na+ influx is blocked by TTX. Addition of serum to hamster fibroblasts arrested in G0 stimulates Na+ influx three-fold. Observations that TTX does not prevent serum-activated Na+ influx, initiation of DNA synthesis and cell proliferation suggest that the fast Na+ channel which we have identified in fibroblasts is not involved in growth control.

Properties of the interaction of the sodium channel with permeant monovalent cations

The use of sea anemone toxin, veratridine and scorpion toxin which specifically interact with the gating system of the sodium channel and maintain the channel in an open conformation has permitted a study of the mechanism of transport of monovalent cations through the selectivity filter of this channel. The initial rate of 22Na+ influx through the tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channels of excitable cells is dependent upon the external concentrations of Na+ and Na+-substitutes with the following properties. (a) It is saturable at high Na+ concentrations and increases with the external Na+ concentration in a cooperative manner (nH = 1.6). (b) At low external Na+ concentrations (1 mM), it is activated and then inhibited by increasing external concentrations of monovalent cations such as Li+, guanidinium, hydrazinium, hydroxylamine and K+. The activating effect of these cations disappears at higher external Na+ concentrations (10 mM). The experimental data are consistent with a model involving at least two allosteric cation-binding sites per Na+ channel. The binding of monovalent cations to Na+ sites is characterized by a high positive homotropic cooperativity. Most of the work describes the properties of the Na+ channel in neuroblastoma cells. The mechanism has also been shown to be valid for excitable cells of other types and origins.

The sodium channel in non-impulsive cells. Interaction with specific neurotoxins

The cell line C9 used in this paper has a resting potential of --50 mV (+/- 10 mV) but is unable to generate an action potential upon electrical stimulation. The cell membrane has receptors for the selectivity filter toxin tetrodotoxin as well as for the gating system toxins, veratridine, scorpion toxin and sea anemone toxin. The Na+ channel which remains silent to electrical stimulation in the absence of toxins can be chemically activated by the gating system toxins. This has been demonstarted by electrophysiological techniques and by 22Na+ flux studies. The electrophysiological approach has shown that the sea anemone toxin is able to induce a spontaneous slow-wave activity inhibited by tetrodotoxin. 22Na+ influx analyses have shown that veratridine and the sea anemone toxin produce an important increase of the initial rate of 22Na+ influx into the C9 cell. The stimulation of 22Na+ entry by these gating system toxins is similar to that found using spiking neuroblastoma cells. Veratridine and the sea anemone toxin on one hand as well as veratridine and the scorpion toxin on the other hand are synergistic in their action to stabilize an open and highly permeable form of the sodium channel. Stimulation of 22Na+ entry into the cell through the sodium channel maintained open by the gating system neurotoxins is completely suppressed by tetrodotoxin.

The role of serum albumin in the uptake of fatty acids by cultured cardiac cells from chick embryo

Fatty acids enter the cultured cardiac cells from chicken embryo through two mechanisms, one involving a saturable process, the other resembling passive diffusion. Studies of the saturable component, at fixed concentrations of palmitate or of oleate and at increasing concentrations of albumin, show that this protein increases the rate of palmitate uptake with a maximum at palmitate/albumin molar ratios between 7 and 10 while it decreases the rate of oleate uptake under all conditions. Albumin cannot be replaced by other serum proteins; its effect is specific to saturated fatty acids, can be mimicked by the detergent Tween 40 and involves the binding of the fatty acid to the protein, prior to its delivery to the cell. Both with labelled saturated and unsaturated fatty acids the presence of albumin lowers the proportion of unesterified fatty acids and enhances the proportion of esterified fatty acids recovered in the cardiac cell after uptake. A similar effect of albumin was also found with hepatocytes and permanent cell lines. A specific role for serum albumin is presented, which assumes a 'dispersing' effect of this protein towards dimers (or higher aggregates) of saturated fatty acids and the entry of fatty acids into the cell as monomers.

Interrelation between transfer RNA and amino-acid-activating sites of methionyl transfer RNA synthetase from Escherichia coli

Binding of tRNA(Met/f) to the monomeric trypsin-modified methionyl-tRNA synthetase turns off the methionine-dependent isotopic ATP--PPi exchange. In the case of the dimeric native methionyltRNA synthetase, one anticooperatively bound tRNA(Met/f) inhibits the exchange by only 50%. These behaviours of tRNA do not require the integrity of the 3'-terminal adenosine. Esterification by methionine of the 3' end of tRNA reinforces the affinity of tRNA(Met/f)for the enzymes. In the case of the native enzyme, due to this effect, a second binding mode for methionyl-tRNA may be demonstrated through the isotopic exchange. This additional binding of tRNA corresponds to the expression of the anticooperatively blocked tRNA binding site. Methionine reverses competitively the reinforcing effect of the esterified methionyl moiety on tRNA binding. It is concluded that after esterification of tRNA, the aminoacyl residue still binds the enzyme, probably within the methionine activating site. The latter behaviour may account for the observation that excess methionine accelerates the aminoacylation turnover rate of tRNA(Met/f).

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase from Escherichia coli: active stoichiometry and stopped-flow analysis of methionyl adenylate formaiton

Native dimeric methionyl-tRNA synthetase and its monomeric proteolytic fragment are shown to form and to bind 1 mol of methyionyl adenylate per polypeptide chain. Moreover, at 25 degrees C, each monomer of the dimeric native enzyme behaves independently, exhibiting the same parameters for the methionine activation reaction as does the monomeric modified enzyme. These results were obtained using several independent methods including equilibrium and nonequilibrium dialysis, active site and tryptophan fluorescence titrations, and stopped-flow by fluorescence. Stopped-flow resolution of the reversible methionine activation reaction also demonstrates that methionine and ATP-Mg2+ react without coupling to form a ternary enzyme-methionine-ATP-Mg2+ complex. This complex readily converts to enzyme-methionyl approximately adenylate-PP-Mg2+ with a standard free energy close to zero. It is concluded that the uncoupled enzyme-methionine-ATP-Mg2+ complex may resemble the transition state of the reaction at the expense of the additional state of the reaction at the expense of the additional synergistic binding energy provided by reciprocal coupling, within the site, of the methionine molecule with the adenosine and PP-Mg2+ parts of the ATP-Mg2+ molecule (Blanguet, S., Fayat, G., and Waller, J. P. (1975), J. Mol. Biol. 94, 1.).

The threonine-sensitive homoserine dehydrogenase and aspartokinase activities of Escherichia coli K-12. Incubation of the enzyme in alkaline conditions: dissociation and disulfide-bridge formation

Aspartokinase I - homoserine dehydrogenase I from Escherichia coli K-12, a homotetrameric enzyme, dissociates into dimers upon alkaline treatment. Both aspartokinase and homoserine dehydrogenase inactivation, as well as desensitazion towards L-threonine, occur in a multi-step process. Dithiothreitol stabilizes a dimeric form retaining full activity and sensitivity; L-homoserine stabilizing another dimeric form devoid of aspartokinase activity and retaining a substantial dehydrogenase activity insensitive toward L-threonine. A model is proposed showing that dissociation into dimers occurs in a first step, the resulting dimer losing both aspartokinase and homoserine dehydrogenase sensitivity in two subsequent steps involving the formation of intrachain disulfide bonds.