Contribution of lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase metabolites in the modulation of cyclic nucleotides in the guinea pig myometrium. Differential effects of carbachol and ionophore A23187

Inhibitory effects of arachidonic acid on muscarinic current response in single pancreatic acinar cells of rats

1. In single, enzymatically dissociated rat pancreatic acinar cells both acetylcholine (ACh) stimulation and IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) injection evoke Ca2(+)-dependent transient responses. Exogenously applied arachidonic acid (AA) inhibits both responses in a dose-dependent manner. 2. Arachidonic acid oxidation inhibitors, indomethacin and nordihydroguaiaretic acid, cause no significant changes in ACh- and IP3-induced responses. The inhibitory effects of AA (50 microM) on IP3-induced responses are not influenced by the presence of these oxidation inhibitors. 3. An inhibitor of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), 4-bromophenacyl bromide (4-BPB; 10 microM), augments the ACh-induced response, and it potentiates the IP3-induced response by a factor of 10 to 20. The IP3-induced response, after its complete decay, is recovered by an administration of 4-BPB. 4. The results suggest that an increase in [Ca2+]i, induced by IP3 injection, activates PLA2, and that this resultant release of AA in turn inhibits IP3-dependent Ca2+ mobilization.

Arachidonic acid closes gap junction channels in rat lacrimal glands

The effects of arachidonic acid (AA) on gap junction conductance of rat lacrimal glands have been studied with the double patch-clamp technique. Extracellular application of 50-100 microM AA for a few minutes induced a closure of gap junction channels. This effect was mimicked by linoleic acid and by other non-degradable fatty acids (myristic and lauric), and was not blocked by inhibitors of AA metabolism. This suggests that the active molecule was the fatty acid itself, and not one of its oxidative derivatives. Inhibitors of AA metabolism caused a certain degree of uncoupling by themselves, probably due to the accumulation of AA. This effect was reduced in the presence of 10 microM 4-bromophenacylbromide, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2. The effect of AA did not seem to be mediated by an increase of intracellular Ca concentration, nor by a change in the activity of guanylate or adenylate cyclases, nor by activation of protein kinase C. Therefore it could be attributed to a direct effect of AA on gap junctions. Analysis of single gap junction channel currents showed that AA-induced closure of these channels resulted from a change in the number of open channels, and not from a reduction of their conductance. Finally, acetylcholine-induced closure of gap junction channels was not primarily mediated by an increase in AA concentration, although such an increase may well follow the activation of muscarinic receptors and play a role in the acetylcholine effect.

Forskolin alters sensitivity of the cAMP-generating system to stimulatory as well as to inhibitory agonists. A study with intact human platelets and guinea pig myometrium

1. In both the intact guinea pig myometrium and human platelets, cAMP accumulation was enhanced by prostaglandin I2 (prostacyclin, PGI2) and forskolin with potentiated responses in the simultaneous presence of both effectors. Under basal conditions, forskolin caused rises in platelet cAMP concentration through a single low-affinity interaction (Kapp = 90 microM) while in myometrium, activation involved both a low-affinity (Kapp = 10 microM) and a high-affinity (Kapp = 0.8 microM) component. The contribution of the high-affinity component could be reduced when endogenous PGI2 was decreased. In both tissues, the synergistic effect of forskolin in the presence of PGI2 was mediated by a single high-affinity interaction (Kapp = 0.3 microM). The data were consistent with a low-affinity interaction of the diterpene with the cyclase catalytic unit C generating the C...forskolin state and with a high-affinity interaction of the diterpene with the activated complex (stimulatory regulatory protein) and C generating the potentiated Gs-C...forskolin state. 2. Both norepinephrine in platelets and carbachol in the myometrium (via Gi, the inhibitory regulatory protein) inhibited PGI2-mediated cAMP accumulation (EC50 = 100 nM and 8 nM respectively). The persistently activated cAMP-generating system induced by cholera toxin in the myometrium was also susceptible to inhibition but the EC50 for carbachol was increased to 50 nM and the extent of inhibition was decreased. Forskolin-mediated effect in platelets was inhibited by norepinephrine as was the PGI2 response. By contrast, the synergistic state of the cyclase resisted the inhibitory action of norepinephrine and carbachol in platelets and myometrium respectively. In the myometrium, where the cAMP response due to forskolin alone partially involved some synergistic Gs-C ... forskolin species, carbachol at 50 microM elicited no more than 30% inhibition. Inhibition was partly improved (60% inhibition at 1 microM carbachol) when the contribution of the Gs-C species was decreased by lowering the concentration of local PGI2. Partial inhibition by norepinephrine was similarly observed in platelets under partial synergistic conditions. The data suggest that receptor-mediated inhibition of cAMP generation could be differentially expressed depending on the nature of the active species of the cyclase involved in the stimulatory responses.

Mechanism of A23187-induced airway obstruction in the guinea pig

Exposure of conscious guinea pigs to A23187 aerosol produced a concentration-related increase of excised lung gas volumes (ELGV), i.e., postmortem pulmonary gas trapping. Measurements of ELGV were highly correlated with in vivo measurements of dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and total pulmonary resistance (RL) and were used as an indication of in vivo airway obstruction. We pretreated guinea pigs intravenously with the following drugs: atropine; LY163443, a selective LTD4/E4 antagonist; indomethacin; propranolol; and pyrilamine. The guinea pigs were exposed for 8 minutes to the A23187 aerosol, and ELGV measurements were then made. Atropine or pyrilamine prevented the A23187-induced gas trapping. Indomethacin or propranolol tended to potentiate the response and when combined, they potentiated the gas trapping by 80%. LY163443 had no effect alone, but when combined with indomethacin, propranolol, and pyrilamine, inhibited A23187-induced gas trapping by 67%. We conclude that cholinergic and histaminergic mechanisms play major roles in the ionophore-induced pulmonary gas trapping of the guinea pig. With appropriate pretreatment, sulfidopeptide leukotrienes may produce a substantial effect.

Regulation of inositol phosphate levels by prostaglandins in cultured endometrial cells

Stimulation of cultured rabbit endometrial cells by one of the rabbit endometrial cell culture proliferation factors, prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), resulted in a very rapid increase in the intracellular levels of [3H]-inositol triphosphate (IP3), [3H]-inositol biphosphate (IP2), and [3H]-inositol monophosphate (IP1) in cells prelabeled with [3H]-inositol. These increases in inositol phosphate levels were detected in periods of stimulation as short as 30 seconds, reached a maximum by 1 1/2-2 min and declined to control levels by 6-10 min. The stimulation was dose-dependent with maximal increases observed near 10(-6) M PGF2 alpha. The cholinergic agent, carbachol, also led to time and dose-independent increases in IP3. Lithium, cadmium, silver, copper, and zinc ions had no effect either on the breakdown of IP3 or on the accumulation of IP1. In contrast, vanadate at 10(-6) or 10(-5) M did lead to a decrease in the breakdown of IP1 and a concomitant increase in IP1, IP2, and IP3. PGF2 alpha was found previously to induce an increase in rabbit endometrial cell DNA synthesis which was inhibited by concomitant or prior addition of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). PGE1, in a dose-dependent manner, was found to inhibit the observed IP3 increase by PGF2 alpha at 1 1/2 min of stimulation. PGF2 alpha treated and control cultures did not differ in cAMP or cGMP levels, cellular 45Ca uptake, nor cellular 22Na uptake. We propose that IP3 may be one of the intracellular messenger(s) synthesized following the treatment of rabbit endometrial cell cultures with the proliferation agent PGF2 alpha and that it may play a crucial role with cAMP in growth regulation.

Carbachol and oxytocin stimulate the generation of inositol phosphates in the guinea pig myometrium

In the guinea pig myometrium prelabelled with myo-[2-3H]inositol, carbachol and oxytocin enhanced a concentration-dependent and rapid release of IP3 which preceded that of IP2 and IP1. The specific receptor-mediated phospholipase C activation degrading PIP2 to IP3 did not require the presence of extracellular Ca2+. The ionophore A23187 as well as K+ depolarization failed to increase inositol phosphate accumulation. It is proposed that IP3 could have a role in the contraction of uterine smooth muscle elicited by the activation of muscarinic as well as of oxytocin receptors.

Binding and second messengers of prostaglandins F2 alpha and E1 in primary cultures of rabbit endometrial cells

Several factors and hormones are thought to play a role in the growth control of endometrial cells. We have shown that prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) is a growth factor for primary cultures of rabbit endometrial cells grown in serum-free, chemically defined medium and that prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) antagonizes the PGF2 alpha induction of growth (Orlicky et al., 1986). [3H]PGF2 alpha binds to whole cells in a time (optimal approximately 30 min)- and temperature-dependent (optimal 37 degrees C), disassociable (90% disassociable within 30 min), saturable (Kd1 = 4.9 X 10(-8) M, n1 = 1.2 X 10(5) molecules/cell; Kd2 = 2.6 X 10(-7) M, n2 = 3.0 X 10(5) molecules/cell), and specific manner. [3H]PGE1 binds in a time-dependent (optimal 25 min), disassociable (90% disassociable within 10 min), saturable (Kd = 6.4 X 10(-8) M, n = 1.2 X 10(5) molecules/cell), and specific manner. This specific binding of [3H]PGF2 alpha and [3H]PGE1 is down-regulatable by prior treatment of the cultures with unlabeled ligand, and up-regulatable by prior treatment of the cultures with indomethacin to inhibit endogenous PG synthesis. Proteolytic enzyme treatment for 2 min reduces the specific binding of PGF2 alpha by 75%. PGE1 stimulates intracellular cAMP synthesis and accumulation in a time (optimal 10 min)- and concentration (half-maximal stimulation at 10(-6) M)-dependent manner but has no effect on intracellular cGMP. PGF2 alpha has no effect on either intracellular cAMP or cGMP in this system. We describe here for the first time the analysis at a biochemical level of the interaction between two prostaglandins, antagonistic to each other in terms of growth regulation.

Monoclonal antibodies to purified muscarinic receptor display agonist-like activity

Monoclonal antibody M-35, which immunoprecipitates native calf brain acetylcholine muscarinic receptor, mimics agonist stimulation of the intact guinea pig myometrium: the antibody, just like carbamoylcholine hydrochloride, causes a rise in intracellular cyclic GMP content, an inhibition of cyclic AMP accumulation due to prostacyclin, and induces uterine contractions. Another antibody, M-23, which reacts with the denatured muscarinic receptor, is devoid of agonist-like activity at the cyclic nucleotide level but is still able to induce contractions of both rat and guinea pig myometrium. The cyclic nucleotide changes caused by both carbamoylcholine and antibody M-35 are inhibited by atropine; this antagonist, which blocks carbamoylcholine-mediated contractions, fails however, to prevent contractions induced by antibodies M-35 and M-23. These results suggest that the information necessary to transmit muscarinic signals is entirely contained in the receptor and that ligands only act to trigger the biological response. The data also imply that the muscarinic receptors of the myometrium are coupled to multiple effector systems.

Effect of using calcium-free Krebs' solution on basal and A23187-stimulated prostaglandin output from the Day 15 guinea-pig uterus superfused in vitro

The basal outputs of prostaglandin (PG) F2 alpha and PGE2 from the Day 15 guinea-pig uterus superfused in vitro were unaffected by omitting Ca2+ from the Krebs' solution. In contrast, this omission of Ca2+ reduced the basal output of 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha (which reflects PGI2 production) from the uterus by an average of 50%. Spontaneous and A23187-stimulated contractions of, and the stimulation by A23187 of PGF2 alpha, PGE2 and 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha outputs from the Day 15 guinea-pig uterus were all abolished by superfusing the tissue with Krebs' solution lacking Ca2+. It is concluded that the basal output of 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha, the occurrence of spontaneous contractions, and the effects of A23187 on PG output and contractility of the Day 15 guinea-pig uterus are dependent on extracellular Ca2+. However, the increase in PGF2 alpha output from the guinea-pig uterus on Day 15 compared to days much earlier in the cycle is apparently not dependent upon extracellular Ca2+. The implications of these findings regarding the biochemical mechanisms involved in the increased synthesis of PGF2 alpha (the uterus luteolytic hormone) by the guinea-pig endometrium during the last one-third of the cycle are discussed.

Is phospholipase A2 a "glucose sensor" responsible for the phasic pattern of insulin release?

The mechanisms involved in the characteristic, normal biphasic pattern of glucose-induced insulin release (which is grossly altered in type II diabetics) have not been definitely elucidated. However, the temporal pattern of arachidonic acid release induced by cellular phospholipases precisely mimics that of first-phase insulin release, both being characterized by a burst of release peaking near 2-3 minutes and followed by a "trough" or apparent refractory period most apparent at 5-10 minutes. The latter appears temporally related not only to decreased arachidonate release but also to stimulation of its re-esterification. Pancreatic islets contain a glucose-sensitive phospholipase A2, and glucose has been shown to increase the accumulation of islet lipoxygenase-derived products which appear to be "third messengers" mediating insulin release. Blockade either of islet phospholipase(s) or of islet lipoxygenase totally abrogates glucose-induced insulin release. The hypothesis is therefore proposed that phospholipase A2 could be one beta cell "glucose sensor", and that the released arachidonate is coupled to an islet lipoxygenase. Labile oxygenated metabolites (lipid peroxides and epoxides) transduce the glucose signal into insulin release. The available data (albeit incomplete) are compatible with the formulation that the biphasic pattern of glucose-induced insulin release could be explained by dynamic changes in the availability of arachidonic acid and its consequent oxygenation.

Effect of treating ovariectomized guinea-pigs with estradiol and progesterone on basal and A23187-stimulated release of prostaglandins from the uterus superfused in vitro

The outputs of PGF2 alpha, PGE2 and 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha from the uterus of ovariectomized guinea-pigs were all low (approximately 0.1 to 0.2 ng/min/uterine horn). PGF2 alpha was released in greatest quantities, followed by PGE2 and then by 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha. Progesterone treatment had no effect on PG output. Estradiol treatment increased PGF2 alpha output 7-fold, but increased PGE2 and 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha outputs only 1.7-fold and 2.9-fold, respectively. Estradiol treatment reversed the PGE2 to 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha ratio. Progesterone-priming before estradiol treatment potentiated the stimulatory effect of estradiol on PGF2 alpha release up to 2-fold, but had no such action on the stimulatory effect of estradiol on PGE2 and 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha release. Estradiol acting on a progesterone-primed uterus causes a relatively specific activation of PGF2 alpha synthesis and release. The physiological significance of this observation is discussed. A23187 stimulated PGF2 alpha release from all uteri irrespective of treatment. However, the magnitude of the response was much greater in those guinea-pigs which had received estradiol (either alone or with progesterone) than in those which had not. A23187 stimulated also 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha release, but to a much lesser extent, and had no effect on PGE2 release. Raising free intracellular Ca2+ levels in the uterus stimulates PGF2 alpha release and, to a lesser extent, 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha release, but the size of the response depends upon the hormonal status of the animal.