Studies on phosphoproteins of submandibular gland nuclei isolated from isoproterenol-treated rats

Activation of muscarinic receptors in rat parotid acinar cells induces AQP5 trafficking to nuclei and apical plasma membrane

BACKGROUND

The subcellular distribution of aquaporin-5 (AQP5) in rat parotid acinar cells in response to muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) activation remains unclear.

METHODS

Immunoconfocal and immunoelectron microscopy were used to visualize the distribution of AQP5 in parotid acinar cells. Western blotting was used to analyze AQP5 levels in membranes. To clarify the characteristics of membrane domains associated with AQP5, detergent solubility and sucrose-density flotation experiments were performed.

RESULTS

Under control conditions, AQP5 was diffusely distributed on the apical plasma membrane (APM) and apical plasmalemmal region and throughout the cytoplasm. Upon mAChR activation, AQP5 was predominantly located in the nucleus, APM and lateral plasma membrane (LPM). Subsequently, localization of AQP5 in the nucleus, APM and LPM was decreased. Prolonged atropine treatment inhibited mAChR agonist-induced translocation of AQP5 to the nucleus, APM and LPM. AQP5 levels were enhanced in isolated nuclei and nuclear membranes prepared from parotid tissues incubated with mAChR agonist. mAChR agonist induced AQP5 levels in both soluble and insoluble nuclear fractions solubilized with Triton X-100 or Lubrol WX. Small amounts of AQP5 in nuclei were detected using low-density sucrose gradient. When AQP5 was present in the nuclear membrane, nuclear size decreased.

CONCLUSION

The activation of mAChR induced AQP5 translocation to the nucleus, APM and LPM, and AQP5 may trigger water transport across the nuclear membrane and plasma membrane in rat parotid acinar cells.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

AQP5 translocates to the nuclear membrane and may trigger the movement of water, inducing shrinkage of the nucleus and the start of nuclear functions.

Dephosphorylation of nuclear non-histone proteins in submandibular glands of rats treated with isoproterenol

Protein phosphatase that removed [32P]phosphate from non-histone proteins, i.e., phenol-soluble acidic proteins, more rapidly and strongly than from histone proteins was present in nuclei of rat submandibular glands, but was not associated with chromatin. Cyclic AMP (10(-4)-10(-2) mM) stimulated the dephosphorylation of non-histone proteins, but not that of histone proteins. After a single injection of isoproterenol (IPR), the dephosphorylation of non-histone proteins in rat submandibular gland nuclei increased within 15 min, reached a maximum in 30 min and returned to normal control levels within 4 h. The stimulation of dephosphorylation of non-histone proteins induced by IPR was not observed after prior treatment of the animals with dichloroisoproterenol. The dephosphorylation of histone proteins was not affected by the injection of IPR. Stimulation of beta-adrenoceptors with IPR in rat submandibular glands resulted in increase in cyclic AMP and decrease in RNA synthesis in the tissues in the first few hours after the injection. This decrease in RNA synthesis was temporary and was preceded by the increase in cyclic AMP level and in the dephosphorylation of non-histone acidic proteins in the tissues. These results suggest that protein phosphatase in nuclei plays an important part in the events controlling RNA synthesis by regulating the state of phosphorylation of non-histone acidic proteins. In addition, the phosphatase may be regulated by a function of the cytoplasmic membranes.

The effect of starvation on the diurnal variation of amylase secretion from rat parotid glands

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of starvation on the cellular function of rat parotid glands in relation to the diurnal variation of amylase secretion from the tissue. Salivary amylase secreted from the glands of rats starved for 24 h showed diurnal variation, with two peaks at 13 and 21 h. The peak at 21 h was more notable than that in fed rats, because of the accumulation of a large amount of amylase in the tissue due to starvation. Maximal binding (Bmax) values of [3H]dihydroalprenolol in the parotid membrane of starved rats also showed diurnal variation, with marked peak at 13 and 21 h. However, phosphorylation of nuclear non-histone proteins in starved rat parotid glands showed diurnal variation, with peaks at 17 and 1 h. This phasing was delayed by 4 h in comparison to that of fed rats, suggesting that the delay of diurnal variation of amylase secretion commences at least a few days after the beginning of starvation. These results indicate that changes in salivary amylase secreted from parotid glands of rats starved for 24 h coupled with those in the number of beta-adrenoceptors in the tissue show the same diurnal variation as observed in fed rats. Starvation of rats for 24 h does not appear to influence the response of parotid gland cells to stimuli.

Age-dependent changes in the phosphorylation of nuclear proteins of submandibular glands in isoproterenol-treated rats

Age-dependent changes in the regulation of the phosphorylation of nuclear proteins were investigated in relation to DNA synthesis in rat submandibular glands after injection of isoproterenol (IPR). The level of phosphorylation of nuclear proteins in the tissue increased rapidly after birth, reaching a maximum at 4 weeks, and then decreased to the level of 52-week-old rats. The level of protein kinase activity in nuclei varied in parallel with that of phosphorylation of nuclear non-histone proteins after birth. The time after the injection of IPR required to initiate the phosphorylation of nuclear non-histone proteins of rat submandibular glands, which occurs prior to the onset of RNA synthesis that precedes the replication of DNA, increased with age. These results suggest that this delayed onset of phosphorylation plays a regulatory role in cell proliferation and cell function during aging.

Diurnal variation of amylase secretion is coupled with alterations of beta-adrenoceptors in the rat parotid gland

Diurnal changes in the neurotransmitter receptors are important for studying the receptor function in neurophysiology. The purpose of this study is to gain an insight into the regulatory mechanisms of the diurnal variation of amylase secretion. Rat salivary amylase levels showed a diurnal variation with two peaks, a marked peak at 13 h and a lesser peak at 21 h. This increase in salivary amylase levels was completely inhibited by pretreatment of rats with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol, but not by the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine. Amylase level in parotid tissue homogenate also showed a diurnal change, but there was only one peak, at 13 h. The number of maximal binding sites (Bmax) for [3H]dihydroalprenolol (DHA) in parotid membranes showed a diurnal variation with two marked peaks at 13 and 21 h, but the affinity of parotid beta-adrenoceptors for agonists or antagonists did not show any diurnal changes. Phosphorylation of nuclear non-histone proteins in the rat parotid gland showed diurnal variation with two marked peaks at 13 and 21 h. These results indicate that a diurnal variation in the number of rat parotid beta-adrenoceptors, which is presumably regulated by gene expression, is coupled with a change in salivary amylase secretion.

Nuclear cAMP-dependent protein kinase in rat parotid acinar cells

Receptor interactions of parotid acinar cells with beta-agonists are mediated by cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) and expressed as cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK) activation. In addition to its location in the cytoplasm, we have shown that cAPK is associated with the nuclear non-histone protein (NHP) fraction (0.35 M NaCl extract) of rat parotid acinar cells. Nuclei were prepared from isolated parotid acini with minimal contamination from other cell types or cytoplasmic components. The nuclear cAPK activity was inhibited by the thermostable inhibitor and was stimulated by the addition of exogenous cAMP to the assay, indicating that the enzyme is present in the holoenzyme form. Enzyme activity was not increased in the presence of detergent, suggesting that cAPK is not bound to the nuclear membrane. Photoaffinity-labeling studies with an 8-azido analog of cAMP showed that regulatory subunits of both type I and type II cAPK isozymes are present in parotid cell nuclei. Short-term in vitro stimulation of the acini with 10(-6) M isoproterenol did not alter cAPK activity in the nuclear fraction. These findings indicate that compartmentation of cAPK into nuclear and extranuclear locations in rat parotid acinar cells is similar to that of several other cell types which are responsive to hormonal stimulation.

Effects of polyamines on prostatic chromatin- and non-histone-protein-associated protein kinase reactions

Studies are presented on the influence of polyamines on prostatic chromatin- and non-histone-protein-associated protein kinase reactions involving both exogenous and endogenous substrates. The activities toward the model acidic protein substrate, dephosphophosvitin, were maximal at 160--200mM-NaCl (or -KCl or -NH4Cl). Under these conditions, spermidine and spermine added in concentrations up to 2mM were essentially without effect. However, without addition of NaCl to the medium, marked stimulation of these reactions was elicited by these polyamines at 1--2mM concentrations. The stimulatory effects were not due to non-specific changes in the ionic strength or to substitution of spermine for Mg2+, as maximal stimulation by 1 mM-spermine was observed only at optimal (2--4mM) Mg2+ concentrations. Qualitatively similar effects of polyamines were observed with enzyme preparations from the prostates of castrated rats, and with chromatin and non-histone-protein preparations from other tissues besides ventral prostate. When phosphorylation of endogenous non-histone proteins of the chromatin was measured, spermine stimulated both the initial rates and the final extent of transphosphorylation, even in the presence of optimal concentration of NaCl. By contrast, spermine or spermidine had no effect on the chromatin- and non-histone-protein-associated protein kinase reactions determined with lysine-rich histones as substrates. Chemically NN-dimethylated dephosphophosvitin was a less active substrate for the chromatin-associated protein kinase, but its phosphorylation was more markedly stimulated by spermine in comparison with unmodified dephosphophosvitin. These observations hint that the polyamine stimulations of the various protein kinase reactions may be due to effects on the conformations of the non-histone protein substrates rather than on the kinases themselves.

Phosphorylation of non-histone proteins in the regulation of chromosome structure and function

Non-histone chromosomal proteins are phosphorylated and dephosphorylated within the intact nucleus by two independent sets of reactions, a protein kinase reaction which transfers the terminal phosphate group of a variety of nucleoside and deoxynucleoside triphosphates to serine and threonine residues in the proteins, and a phosphatase reaction which cleaves these phosphoserine and phosphothreonine bonds and releases inorganic phosphate. Several lines of evidence are consistent with the hypothesis that the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of these proteins is involved in gene control mechanisms, including the findings that phosphorylated non-histone proteins are highly heterogeneous and their phosphorylation patterns are tissue specific, changes in their phosphorylation correlate with changes in chromatin structure and gene acticity, addition of phosphorylated non-histone proteins increases RNA synthesis in vitro. and phosphorylated non-histone proteins bind specifically to DNA. Cyclic AMP has both stimulatory and inhibitory properties on non-histone protein phosphorylation, depending on the enzyme fraction and substrate employed A specific protein component whose phosphorylation is inhibited by cyclic AMP has been found to be associated with RNA polymerase. The cyclic AMP-induced decrease in the phosphorylation of this protein correlates with an enhancement of RNA synthesis in vitro. These results suggest that both phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of chromatin-associated proteins may be involved in the control of gene readout.