Phosphoinositide signalling in human neuroblastoma cells: biphasic effect of Li+ on the level of the inositolphosphate second messengers

Reduction in the rate of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate synthesis in rat parotid acini by lithium

Stimulation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors on rat parotid acinar cells causes a rapid production of inositol phosphates, with the key metabolic event being the breakdown of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate into inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3) and diacylglycerol. Here a high-performance liquid chromatographic technique was used to measure the effects of intracellular lithium ions on the amount of various inositol phosphates produced. When acini were stimulated maximally with acetylcholine (ACh), the sum of all inositol phosphates produced followed a monoexponential function with a production rate constant for Ins(1,4,5)P3 of 0.07 +/- 0.01 solidus/sec. The presence of 23 mM LiCl intracellularly reduced the production rate constant of Ins(1,4,5)P3 induced by ACh to 0.03 +/- 0.01 solidus/sec, resulting in a decrease in the Ins(1,4,5)P3 production as well as in the magnitude of the rise in the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration. The lithium ion (Li+) did not affect the rate of conversion of Ins(1,4,5)P3 to either inositol 1,4-bisphosphate or inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. The rate of the inositol phosphate production after the addition of the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin was unaffected by intracellular Li+ (23 mM), which implies that the action of Li+ was at the muscarinic cholinergic receptor, on G-protein or on the interactions between G-proteins and phospholipase C. Thus, in the early events after receptor stimulation with ACh, Li+ causes a reduction in the concentration of the cellular messengers Ins(1,4,5)P3 and Ca2+.

A novel action of lithium: stimulation of glutamate release and inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate accumulation via activation of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor in monkey and mouse cerebral cortex slices

Beginning at therapeutic concentrations (1-1.5mM), the anti-manic-depressive drug, lithium, stimulated the release of the major excitatory central neurotransmitter, glutamate, in monkey cerebral cortex slices in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and this was associated with increased inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] accumulation. (+/-)-3-(2-Carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphoric acid (CPP), dizocilpine (MK-801), ketamine, and Mg(2+)-antagonists to the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor/channel complex selectivity inhibited lithium-stimulated Ins(1,4,5)P3 accumulation. Antagonists to cholinergic-muscarinic, alpha 1-adrenergic, 5-HT2-serotoninergic and H1-histaminergic receptors had no effect. Antagonists to non-NMDA glutamate receptors had no effect on lithium-stimulated Ins(1,4,5)P3 accumulation. Possible reasons for this are discussed. Similar results were obtained in mouse cerebral cortex slices. Carbetapentane, which inhibits glutamate release, inhibited lithium-induced Ins(1,4,5)P3 accumulation in this model. It is concluded that the primary effect of lithium in the cerebral cortex slice model is stimulation of glutamate release, which, via activation of the NMDA receptor, leads to Ca2+ entry. Ca2+ entry, in turn, activates phospholipase C. These effects may have relevance to the therapeutic action of lithium in the treatment of manic-depression, as well as its toxic effects, especially at lithium blood levels above 1.5mM. A general conclusion which can be drawn from these studies and earlier studies in our laboratory is that lithium potentiates the action of phospholipase C, whether this enzyme is activated by lithium-induced presynaptic release of neurotransmitter, such as glutamate, or by the addition of an exogenous neurotransmitter, such as acetylcholine. However, this does not appear to be due to a direct activation of phospholipase C.