The role of cytoplasmic nanospaces in smooth muscle cell Ca2+ signalling

pH Nanosensor Using Electronic Spins in Diamond

Nanoscale measurements provide insight into the nano world. For instance, nanometric spatiotemporal distribution of intracellular pH is regulated by and regulates a variety of biological processes. However, there is no general method to fabricate nanoscale pH sensors. Here, we, to endow pH-sensing functions, tailor the surface properties of a fluorescent nanodiamond (FND) containing nitrogen-vacancy centers (NV centers) by coating the FND with an ionic chemical layer. The longitudinal relaxation time T₁ of the electron spins in the NV centers inside a nanodiamond modified by carboxyl groups on the particle surface was found to depend on ambient pH between pH 3 and pH 7, but not between pH 7 and pH 11. Therefore, a single particle of the carboxylated nanodiamond works as a nanometer-sized pH meter within a microscopic image and directly measures the nanometric local pH environment. Moreover, the pH dependence of an FND was changed by coating it with a polycysteine layer, which contains a multitude of thiol groups with higher pK_a. The polycysteine-coated nanodiamond obtained a pH dependence between pH 7 and pH 11. The pH dependence of the FND was also observed in heavy water (D₂O) buffers. This indicates that the pH dependence is not caused by magnetic noise induced by ¹H nuclear spin fluctuations, but by electric noise induced by ion exchanges. Via our method, the sensitive pH range of the nanodiamond pH sensor can potentially be controlled by changing the ionic layer appropriately according to the target biological phenomena.

Na +/Ca2+ exchangers and Orai channels jointly refill endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ via ER nanojunctions in vascular endothelial cells

We investigated the role of Na⁺/ Ca²⁺ exchange (NCX) in the refilling of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca²⁺ in vascular endothelial cells under various conditions of cell stimulation and plasma membrane (PM) polarization. Better understanding of the mechanisms behind basic ER Ca²⁺ content regulation is important, since current hypotheses on the possible ultimate causes of ER stress point to deterioration of the Ca²⁺ transport mechanism to/from ER itself. We measured [Ca²⁺]_i temporal changes by Fura-2 fluorescence under experimental protocols that inhibit a host of transporters (NCX, Orai, non-selective transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ ATPase (SERCA), Na⁺/ K⁺ ATPase (NKA)) involved in the Ca²⁺ communication between the extracellular space and the ER. Following histamine-stimulated ER Ca²⁺ release, blockade of NCX Ca²⁺-influx mode (by 10 μM KB-R7943) diminished the ER refilling capacity by about 40%, while in Orai1 dominant negative-transfected cells NCX blockade attenuated ER refilling by about 60%. Conversely, inhibiting the ouabain sensitive NKA (10 nM ouabain), which may be localized in PM-ER junctions, increased the ER Ca²⁺ releasable fraction by about 20%, thereby supporting the hypothesis that this process of privileged ER refilling is junction-mediated. Junctions were observed in the cell ultrastructure and their main parameters of membrane separation and linear extension were (9.6 ± 3.8) nm and (128 ± 63) nm, respectively. Our findings point to a process of privileged refilling of the ER, in which NCX and store-operated Ca²⁺ entry via the stromal interaction molecule (STIM)-Orai system are the sole protagonists. These results shed light on the molecular machinery involved in the function of a previously hypothesized subplasmalemmal Ca²⁺ control unit during ER refilling with extracellular Ca²⁺.

Acetylcholine attenuated TNF-α-induced intracellular Ca2+ overload by inhibiting the formation of the NCX1-TRPC3-IP3R1 complex in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms discrete junctions with the plasma membrane (PM) that play a critical role in the regulation of Ca²⁺ signaling during cellular bioenergetics, apoptosis and autophagy. We have previously confirmed that acetylcholine can inhibit ER stress and apoptosis after inflammatory injury. However, limited research has focused on the effects of acetylcholine on ER-PM junctions. In this work, we evaluated the structure and function of the supramolecular sodium-calcium exchanger 1 (NCX1)-transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3)-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor 1 (IP3R1) complex, which is involved in regulating Ca²⁺ homeostasis during inflammatory injury. The width of the ER-PM junctions of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was measured in nanometres using transmission electron microscopy and a fluorescent probe for Ca²⁺. Protein-protein interactions were assessed by immunoprecipitation. Ca²⁺ concentration was measured using a confocal microscope. An siRNA assay was employed to silence specific proteins. Our results demonstrated that the peripheral ER was translocated to PM junction sites when induced by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and that NCX1-TRPC3-IP3R1 complexes formed at these sites. After down-regulating the protein expression of NCX1 or IP3R1, we found that the NCX1-mediated inflow of Ca²⁺ and the release of intracellular Ca²⁺ stores were reduced in TNF-α-treated cells. We also observed that acetylcholine attenuated the formation of NCX1-TRPC3-IP3R1 complexes and maintained calcium homeostasis in cells treated with TNF-α. Interestingly, the positive effects of acetylcholine were abolished by the selective M3AChR antagonist darifenacin and by AMPK siRNAs. These results indicate that acetylcholine protects endothelial cells from TNF-alpha-induced injury, [Ca²⁺]_cyt overload and ER-PM interactions, which depend on the muscarinic 3 receptor/AMPK pathway, and that acetylcholine may be a new inhibitor for suppressing [Ca²⁺]_cyt overload.