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Vinberg F, Chen J, Kefalov VJ. Regulation of calcium homeostasis in the outer segments of rod and cone photoreceptors. Prog Retin Eye Res 2018; 67:87-101. [PMID: 29883715 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2018.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Revised: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Calcium plays important roles in the function and survival of rod and cone photoreceptor cells. Rapid regulation of calcium in the outer segments of photoreceptors is required for the modulation of phototransduction that drives the termination of the flash response as well as light adaptation in rods and cones. On a slower time scale, maintaining proper calcium homeostasis is critical for the health and survival of photoreceptors. Decades of work have established that the level of calcium in the outer segments of rods and cones is regulated by a dynamic equilibrium between influx via the transduction cGMP-gated channels and extrusion via rod- and cone-specific Na+/Ca2+, K+ exchangers (NCKXs). It had been widely accepted that the only mechanism for extrusion of calcium from rod outer segments is via the rod-specific NCKX1, while extrusion from cone outer segments is driven exclusively by the cone-specific NCKX2. However, recent evidence from mice lacking NCKX1 and NCKX2 have challenged that notion and have revealed a more complex picture, including a NCKX-independent mechanism in rods and two separate NCKX-dependent mechanisms in cones. This review will focus on recent findings on the molecular mechanisms of extrusion of calcium from the outer segments of rod and cone photoreceptors, and the functional and structural changes in photoreceptors when normal extrusion is disrupted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frans Vinberg
- Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Jeannie Chen
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Vladimir J Kefalov
- Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
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Wensel TG, Zhang Z, Anastassov IA, Gilliam JC, He F, Schmid MF, Robichaux MA. Structural and molecular bases of rod photoreceptor morphogenesis and disease. Prog Retin Eye Res 2016; 55:32-51. [PMID: 27352937 PMCID: PMC5112133 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The rod cell has an extraordinarily specialized structure that allows it to carry out its unique function of detecting individual photons of light. Both the structural features of the rod and the metabolic processes required for highly amplified light detection seem to have rendered the rod especially sensitive to structural and metabolic defects, so that a large number of gene defects are primarily associated with rod cell death and give rise to blinding retinal dystrophies. The structures of the rod, especially those of the sensory cilium known as the outer segment, have been the subject of structural, biochemical, and genetic analysis for many years, but the molecular bases for rod morphogenesis and for cell death in rod dystrophies are still poorly understood. Recent developments in imaging technology, such as cryo-electron tomography and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, in gene sequencing technology, and in gene editing technology are rapidly leading to new breakthroughs in our understanding of these questions. A summary is presented of our current understanding of selected aspects of these questions, highlighting areas of uncertainty and contention as well as recent discoveries that provide new insights. Examples of structural data from emerging imaging technologies are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore G Wensel
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| | - Zhixian Zhang
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ivan A Anastassov
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jared C Gilliam
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Feng He
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Michael F Schmid
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Michael A Robichaux
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Sakurai K, Vinberg F, Wang T, Chen J, Kefalov VJ. The Na(+)/Ca(2+), K(+) exchanger 2 modulates mammalian cone phototransduction. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32521. [PMID: 27580676 PMCID: PMC5007492 DOI: 10.1038/srep32521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Calcium ions (Ca2+) modulate the phototransduction cascade of vertebrate cone photoreceptors to tune gain, inactivation, and light adaptation. In darkness, the continuous current entering the cone outer segment through cGMP-gated (CNG) channels is carried in part by Ca2+, which is then extruded back to the extracellular space. The mechanism of Ca2+ extrusion from mammalian cones is not understood. The dominant view has been that the cone-specific isoform of the Na+/Ca2+, K+ exchanger, NCKX2, is responsible for removing Ca2+ from their outer segments. However, indirect evaluation of cone function in NCKX2-deficient (Nckx2−/−) mice by electroretinogram recordings revealed normal photopic b-wave responses. This unexpected result suggested that NCKX2 may not be involved in the Ca2+ homeostasis of mammalian cones. To address this controversy, we examined the expression of NCKX2 in mouse cones and performed transretinal recordings from Nckx2−/− mice to determine the effect of NCKX2 deletion on cone function directly. We found that Nckx2−/− cones exhibit compromised phototransduction inactivation, slower response recovery and delayed background adaptation. We conclude that NCKX2 is required for the maintenance of efficient Ca2+ extrusion from mouse cones. However, surprisingly, Nckx2−/− cones adapted normally in steady background light, indicating the existence of additional Ca2+-extruding mechanisms in mammalian cones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisuke Sakurai
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Frans Vinberg
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Tian Wang
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Cell and Neurobiology &Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Jeannie Chen
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Department of Cell and Neurobiology &Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Vladimir J Kefalov
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA
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Schnetkamp PPM. The SLC24 gene family of Na⁺/Ca²⁺-K⁺ exchangers: from sight and smell to memory consolidation and skin pigmentation. Mol Aspects Med 2013; 34:455-64. [PMID: 23506883 DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2012.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2012] [Accepted: 03/09/2012] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Members of the SLC24 gene family encode K(+)-dependent Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers (NCKX) that utilize both the inward Na(+) and outward K(+) gradients to extrude Ca(2+) from cells. There are five human SLC24 genes that play a role in biological process as diverse as vision in retinal rod and cone photoreceptors, olfaction, skin pigmentation and at least three of the five genes are also widely expressed in the brain. Here I review the functional, physiological and structural features of NCKX proteins that have emerged in the past few years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul P M Schnetkamp
- Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, Canada AB T2N 4N1.
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Laskowski AI, Medler KF. Sodium-calcium exchangers contribute to the regulation of cytosolic calcium levels in mouse taste cells. J Physiol 2009; 587:4077-89. [PMID: 19581381 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2009.173567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Taste cells use multiple signalling mechanisms to generate unique calcium responses to distinct taste stimuli. Some taste stimuli activate G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that cause calcium release from intracellular stores while other stimuli depolarize taste cells to cause calcium influx through voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs). We recently demonstrated that a constitutive calcium influx exists in taste cells that is regulated by mitochondrial calcium transport and that the magnitude of this calcium influx correlates with the signalling mechanisms used by the taste cells. In this study, we used calcium imaging to determine that sodium-calcium exchangers (NCXs) also routinely contribute to the regulation of basal cytosolic calcium and that their relative role correlates with the signalling mechanisms used by the taste cells. RT-PCR analysis revealed that multiple NCXs and sodium-calcium-potassium exchangers (NCKXs) are expressed in taste cells. Thus, a dynamic relationship exists between calcium leak channels and calcium regulatory mechanisms in taste cells that functions to keep cytosolic calcium levels in the appropriate range for cell function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka I Laskowski
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
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Shibukawa Y, Kang KJ, Kinjo TG, Szerencsei RT, Altimimi HF, Pratikhya P, Winkfein RJ, Schnetkamp PPM. Structure-function relationships of the NCKX2 Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchanger. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2007; 1099:16-28. [PMID: 17303823 DOI: 10.1196/annals.1387.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
K+-dependent Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCKX) have been shown to play important roles in physiological processes as diverse as phototransduction in rod photoreceptors, motor learning and memory in mice, and skin pigmentation in humans. Most structure-function studies on NCKX proteins have been carried out on the NCKX2 isoform, but sequence similarity suggests that the results obtained with the NCKX2 isoform are likely to apply to all NCKX1-5 members of the human SLC24 gene family. Here we review our recent work on the NCKX2 protein concerning the topological arrangement of transmembrane segments carrying out cation transport, and concerning residues important for transport function and cation binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Shibukawa
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive, N.W. Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada
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Altimimi HF, Schnetkamp PPM. Na+-dependent inactivation of the retinal cone/brain Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchanger NCKX2. J Biol Chem 2006; 282:3720-9. [PMID: 17164249 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m609285200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The SLC24 gene family Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchangers (NCKX) are bidirectional plasma membrane transporters whose main function is the extrusion of Ca2+ from the cytosol. In this study, we used human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing human retinal cone/brain NCKX2 to examine its Na+ affinity and kinetic parameters of Ca2+ transport. With the use of the ionophore gramicidin to control alkali cation concentrations across the plasma membrane, application of high intracellular Na+ promoted large NCKX2-mediated increases in intracellular free Ca2+ in the 15-20 microm range; this also resulted in inactivation of NCKX2 transport, the first description of this novel kinetic state. The affinity of NCKX2 for internal Na+ was found to be sigmoidal, with a Hill coefficient of 2.6 and Kd = 50 mm. The time-dependent (t(1/2) approximately 40s) inactivation of NCKX2 required high intracellular Na+ levels (Kd > 50 mm) as well as high occupancy of the extracellular Ca2+-binding site. Also reported are two residues whose substitution resulted in an increase in internal Na+ affinity to values of approximately 19 mm; these mutants also displayed enhanced inactivation, suggesting that inactivation requires binding of Na+ to its intracellular transport sites. These findings are the first report of a regulatory kinetic state of Ca2+ transport via NCKX2 Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchangers that may play a prominent role in regulation of Ca2+ extrusion in cellular environments such as neuronal synapses that experience frequent and dynamic Ca2+ fluxes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haider F Altimimi
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada
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Paillart C, Winkfein RJ, Schnetkamp PPM, Korenbrot JI. Functional characterization and molecular cloning of the K+-dependent Na+/Ca2+ exchanger in intact retinal cone photoreceptors. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 129:1-16. [PMID: 17158950 PMCID: PMC2151608 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.200609652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Light-dependent changes in cytoplasmic free Ca(2+) are much faster in the outer segment of cone than rod photoreceptors in the vertebrate retina. In the limit, this rate is determined by the activity of an electrogenic Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger located in the outer segment plasma membrane. We investigate the functional properties of the exchanger activity in intact, single cone photoreceptors isolated from striped bass retina. Exchanger function is characterized through analysis both of the electrogenic exchanger current and cytoplasmic free Ca(2+) measured with optical probes. The exchanger in cones is K(+) dependent and operates both in forward and reverse modes. In the reverse mode, the K(+) dependence of the exchanger is described by binding to a single site with K(1/2) about 3.6 mM. From the retina of the fish we cloned exchanger molecules bassNCKX1 and bassNCKX2. BassNCKX1 is a single class of molecules, homologous to exchangers previously cloned from mammalian rods. BassNCKX2 exists in four splice variants that differ from each other by small sequence differences in the single, large cytoplasmic loop characteristic of these molecules. We used RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) of individual cells to identify the exchanger molecule specifically expressed in bass single and twin cone photoreceptors. Each and every one of the four bassNCKX2 splice variants is expressed in both single and twin cones indistinguishably. BassNCKX1 is not expressed in cones and, by exclusion, it is likely to be an exchanger expressed in rods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Paillart
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
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Li XF, Kiedrowski L, Tremblay F, Fernandez FR, Perizzolo M, Winkfein RJ, Turner RW, Bains JS, Rancourt DE, Lytton J. Importance of K+-dependent Na+/Ca2+-exchanger 2, NCKX2, in motor learning and memory. J Biol Chem 2006; 281:6273-82. [PMID: 16407245 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m512137200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasma membrane Na+/Ca2+-exchangers play a predominant role in Ca2+ extrusion in brain. Neurons express several different Na+/Ca2+-exchangers belonging to both the K+-independent NCX family and the K+-dependent NCKX family. The unique contributions of each of these proteins to neuronal Ca2+ homeostasis and/or physiology remain largely unexplored. To address this question, we generated mice in which the gene encoding the abundant neuronal K+ -dependent Na+/Ca2+-exchanger protein, NCKX2, was knocked out. Analysis of these animals revealed a significant reduction in Ca2+ flux in cortical neurons, a profound loss of long term potentiation and an increase in long term depression at hippocampal Schaffer/CA1 synapses, and clear deficits in specific tests of motor learning and spatial working memory. Surprisingly, there was no obvious loss of photoreceptor function in cones, where expression of the NCKX2 protein had been reported previously. These data emphasize the critical and non-redundant role of NCKX2 in the local control of neuronal [Ca2+] that is essential for the development of synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Fang Li
- The Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, Canada
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Aneiros E, Philipp S, Lis A, Freichel M, Cavalié A. Modulation of Ca2+ Signaling by Na+/Ca2+ Exchangers in Mast Cells. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2004; 174:119-30. [PMID: 15611234 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.174.1.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Mast cells rely on Ca(2+) signaling to initiate activation programs leading to release of proinflammatory mediators. The interplay between Ca(2+) release from internal stores and Ca(2+) entry through store-operated Ca(2+) channels has been extensively studied. Using rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) mast cells and murine bone marrow-derived mast cells, we examine the role of Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers. Calcium imaging experiments and patch clamp current recordings revealed both K(+)-independent and K(+)-dependent components of Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange. Northern blot analysis indicated the predominant expression of the K(+)-dependent sodium-calcium exchanger NCKX3. Transcripts of the exchangers NCX3 and NCKX1 were additionally detected in RBL cells with RT-PCR. The Ca(2+) clearance via Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange represented approximately 50% of the total clearance when Ca(2+) signals reached levels > or =200 nM. Ca(2+) signaling and store-operated Ca(2+) entry were strongly reduced by inverting the direction of Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange, indicating that Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers normally extrude Ca(2+) ions from cytosol and prevent the Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation of store-operated Ca(2+) channels. Working in the Ca(2+) efflux mode, Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers such as NCKX3 and NCX3 might, therefore, play a role in the Ag-induced mast cell activation by controlling the sustained phase of Ca(2+) mobilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Aneiros
- Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Universität des Saarlandes, D-66421 Homburg, Germany
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Winkfein RJ, Pearson B, Ward R, Szerencsei RT, Colley NJ, Schnetkamp PPM. Molecular characterization, functional expression and tissue distribution of a second NCKX Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchanger from Drosophila. Cell Calcium 2004; 36:147-55. [PMID: 15193862 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2004.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2003] [Accepted: 01/29/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The Na+/Ca2+ -K+ exchanger (NCKX) utilizes the inward Na+ gradient and the outward K+ gradient to promote Ca2+ extrusion from cells. Here, we have characterized a second NCKX from Drosophila. Based on its chromosomal location (X chromosome) we have named it Ncxk-x. Three splice variants were isolated with three distinct N-terminal sequences. NCKX-X differs from NCKX proteins described so far in other species by lacking an N-terminal signal peptide. Heterologous expression of the respective cDNA's resulted in NCKX-X protein expression and K+ -dependent Na+/Ca2+ exchange activity for two of the three splice variants. Transcript localization of Nckx-x was investigated and compared with that previously described by us for Nckx30C.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Winkfein
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive, NW, Alta., Canada T2N 4N1
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