Carbachol changes spike-generation properties of GH3 pituitary cells

The Effectiveness in Activating M-Type K+ Current Produced by Solifenacin ([(3R)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-3-yl] (1S)-1-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-isoquinoline-2-carboxylate): Independent of Its Antimuscarinic Action

Solifenacin (Vesicare^®, SOL), known to be a member of isoquinolines, is a muscarinic antagonist that has anticholinergic effect, and it has been beneficial in treating urinary incontinence and neurogenic detrusor overactivity. However, the information regarding the effects of SOL on membrane ionic currents is largely uncertain, despite its clinically wide use in patients with those disorders. In this study, the whole-cell current recordings revealed that upon membrane depolarization in pituitary GH₃ cells, the exposure to SOL concentration-dependently increased the amplitude of M-type K⁺ current (I_K(M)) with effective EC₅₀ value of 0.34 μM. The activation time constant of I_K(M) was concurrently shortened in the SOL presence, hence yielding the K_D value of 0.55 μM based on minimal reaction scheme. As cells were exposed to SOL, the steady-state activation curve of I_K(M) was shifted along the voltage axis to the left with no change in the gating charge of the current. Upon an isosceles-triangular ramp pulse, the hysteretic area of I_K(M) was increased by adding SOL. As cells were continually exposed to SOL, further application of acetylcholine (1 μM) failed to modify SOL-stimulated I_K(M); however, subsequent addition of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH, 1 μM) was able to counteract SOL-induced increase in I_K(M) amplitude. In cell-attached single-channel current recordings, bath addition of SOL led to an increase in the activity of M-type K⁺ (K_M) channels with no change in the single channel conductance; the mean open time of the channel became lengthened. In whole-cell current-clamp recordings, the SOL application reduced the firing of action potentials (APs) in GH₃ cells; however, either subsequent addition of TRH or linopirdine was able to reverse SOL-mediated decrease in AP firing. In hippocampal mHippoE-14 neurons, the I_K(M) was also stimulated by adding SOL. Altogether, findings from this study disclosed for the first time the effectiveness of SOL in interacting with K_M channels and hence in stimulating I_K(M) in electrically excitable cells, and this noticeable action appears to be independent of its antagonistic activity on the canonical binding to muscarinic receptors expressed in GH₃ or mHippoE-14 cells.

Muscarinic regulation of Ca2+ oscillation frequency in GH3 cells

The GH3 anterior pituitary cell line has been used as a model to investigate diverse aspects of pituitary cell physiology including Ca2+ homeostasis and secretion. These cells possess muscarinic receptors which, by activating K+ channels and inhibiting Ca2+ channels, should decrease electrical excitability. We measured the effect of carbachol (10 microM) on the frequency of Ca2+ oscillations caused by Ca2+ action potentials in the plasma membrane. Carbachol reduced oscillation frequency by approximately 85% (p < 0.001). This inhibition was reversed by atropine (1 microM), and was prevented by pre-incubation with pertussis toxin (200 ng/ml, 24 h). Since many anterior pituitary cell types secrete acetylcholine, the presence of muscarinic receptors coupled to cell excitability in these cells suggest that ACh could exert a paracrine- or autocrine-like action in GH3 cell cultures. In experiments designed to test this idea, perfusion with 1 microM atropine caused a small but significant increase (p < 0.05) in oscillation frequency when the cells had previously been incubated for 30 min without perfusion. However, this effect was not blocked by either pre-treatment with pertussis toxin or by including atropine during the entire experiment (including the 30-min incubation without perfusion). We conclude that these cells respond to muscarinic agonists by decreasing oscillation frequency but find no evidence for feedback control by endogenous ACh under these conditions.

GTP-binding proteins mediate the M2-muscarinic effect on the action potential in isolated sympathetic neurons of rabbits

Activation of M2-muscarinic receptors alters the configuration of the action potential due to depression of the calcium-dependent components, the shoulder in the falling phase and the afterhyperpolarization, in isolated superior cervical ganglionic neurons of rabbits. This effect was inhibited by preincubation of the cells with pertussis toxin, or by the intracellular administration of guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP-beta-S). The muscarinic effect persisted in the cells loaded with guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP-gamma-S). Intracellular application of cAMP and 3-isobutyl-l-methylxanthine did not change the muscarinic effect. The results suggest that a GTP-binding protein is involved in the cAMP-independent, M2-muscarinic receptor-mediated regulation of action potential firing in sympathetic neurons.

Dual synaptic effects of activating M1-muscarinic receptors, in superior cervical ganglia of rabbits

Postsynaptic potentials elicited by various muscarinic agonists and by preganglionic stimuli in the presence of such agonists were recorded from rabbit superior cervical ganglia using sucrose-gap and air-gap methods. While methacholine and bethanechol (both at 10(-4) M) induced biphasic potential changes, McN-A-343 and a novel synthetic compound AF-102B (10(-7) M-10(-5) M) produced only a depolarizing response which was depressed by the M1-antagonist pirenzepine (10(-7) M), but not by the M2 antagonist AF-DX 116 (same concentration), indicating that these compounds act purely as M1-muscarinic agonists in this system. These agonists selectively depressed the orthodromic slow excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) in a dose-dependent manner without substantially affecting the fast EPSP; this is in accord with the view that their depolarizing action is on the same postsynaptic muscarinic receptor that mediates the slow EPSP. The slow inhibitory post synaptic potential (IPSP), on the other hand, was found potentiated in the presence of these agonists. This potentiation was antagonized not only by pirenzepine but also by yohimbine; the potentiation was itself enlarged by nomifensine (a dopamine-uptake inhibitor). We postulate that M1-muscarinic receptors are present not only on the postganglionic principal cells but also on the interneurons; the former were already known to be responsible for the generation of slow EPSP, but the latter may be on terminals of dopamine-containing small intensely fluorescent cells and regulate the orthodromic release of dopamine and are to be distinguished from the M2-receptors.

Alaproclate affects membrane ion channels in GH3/B6 pituitary cells

Effects of alaproclate, an inhibitor of serotonin uptake, on the membrane of GH3/B6 clonal pituitary cells were studied using whole cell patch clamp recording techniques. Application of alaproclate (5 microM) depolarized the cell and increased the rheobase. Such treatment also increased the frequency of spontaneous firing. It is suggested that alaproclate decreases the potassium conductance in a manner similar to 4-aminopyridine and affects membrane calcium channels.