Two different processes of Ca2+ transport across the membrane of chromaffin granules

Ins(1,4,5)P3 induces Ca2+ release from brain microsomes loaded either by the Ca2+ ATPase or by the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger

In this study we investigated the release of Ca2+ in brain microsomes after Ca2+ loading by the Ca(2+)-ATPase or by the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. The results show that in microsomes loaded with Ca2+ by the Ca(2+)-ATPase, Ins(1,4,5)P3 (5 microM) released 21 +/- 2% of the total Ca2+ accumulated, and that in the microsomes loaded with Ca2+ by the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, Ins(1,4,5)P3 released 28 +/- 3% of the total Ca2+ accumulated. These results suggest that receptors of Ins(1,4,5)P3 may be co-localized with the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane or that there are Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptors in the plasma membrane where the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger is normally present, or both. We also found that Ins(1,4,5)P3 inhibited the Ca(2+)-ATPase by 33.7%, but that it had no significant effect on the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger.

Biochemical and immunological evidence for a calcium pump in chromaffin granules

ATP stimulated the accumulation of 45Ca2+ by chromaffin granule ghosts which contained 5 mM oxalate to trap transported calcium within the lumen. Inasmuch as the ATP-dependent 45Ca2+ transport was resistant to 25 mM ammonium acetate as well as the proton ionophore, carbonylcyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone, the chromaffin granule proton translocating ATPase does not provide the energy for this process. Instead, we suggest that chromaffin granules contain a calcium translocating ATPase which catalyzes the 45Ca2+ uptake directly. The observation that chromaffin granules bind to a monoclonal antibody raised against a calcium pump from bovine brain supports this hypothesis.

Calcium homeostasis in digitonin-permeabilized bovine chromaffin cells

The regulation of cytosolic calcium was studied in digitonin-permeabilized chromaffin cells. Accumulation of 45Ca2+ by permeabilized cells was measured at various Ca2+ concentrations in the incubation solutions. In the absence of ATP, there was a small (10-15% of total uptake) but significant increase in accumulation of Ca2+ into both the vesicular and nonvesicular pools. In the presence of ATP, the permeabilized cells accumulated Ca2+ into carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP)-sensitive and -insensitive pools. The CCCP-sensitive pool--mainly mitochondria--was active when the calcium concentration was greater than 1 microM and was not saturated at 25 microM. The Ca2+ sequestered by the CCCP-insensitive pool could be inhibited by vanadate and released by inositol trisphosphate, a combination suggesting that this pool was the endoplasmic reticulum. The CCCP-insensitive pool had a high affinity for calcium, with an EC50 of approximately 1 microM. When the Ca2+ concentration was adjusted to the level in the cytoplasm of resting cells (0.1 microM), the presumed endoplasmic reticulum pool was responsible for approximately 90% of the ATP-stimulated calcium uptake. At a calcium level similar to the acetylcholine-stimulated level in intact cells (5-10 microM), most of the Ca2+ (greater than 95%) went into the CCCP-sensitive pool.

Studies on Mg2+-dependent ATPase in bovine adrenal chromaffin granules. With special reference to the effect of inhibitors and energy coupling

The Mg2+-ATPase activities of bovine adrenal chromaffin granules were studied in highly purified preparations of granule ghosts and in intact organelles. The overall ATPase activity (150-250 nmol ADP min-1 mg-1) of the granule ghost preparations was inhibited less than 5% by the bathophenanthroline chelate of Fe(II), a potent inhibitor of mitochondrial F1-ATPase. This small inhibition can be accounted for by a very minor contamination with mitochondria or mitochondrial fragments. The overall ATPase activity of native granule ghosts was inhibited about 75% by N-ethylmaleimide, with half-maximal inhibition at about 20 microM. The titration curve was slightly shifted towards higher concentrations as compared to the inhibition curve for the proton pump activity, which was completely inhibited at 25 microM. N,N'-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide inhibited the overall ATPase activity by 75-80% at 1.1 mumol/mg protein, a concentration that completely abolished the proton pump activity. Low concentrations (10 microM) of vanadate inhibited the overall ATPase activity by about 15% but had no effect on the proton pump activity, which was partly inhibited only at higher vanadate concentrations. Our attempts to assign a function to the vanadate-sensitive and N-ethylmaleimide-insensitive ATPase have so far been unsuccessful. In particular, our assay for ATP diphosphohydrolase activity was negative, although the chromaffin granule ghosts revealed a low Mg2+-ADPase activity (11.8 nmol AMP min-1 mg-1 protein). In intact chromaffin granules the specific Mg2+-ATPase activity (50-70 nmol ADP min-1 mg-1) was stimulated 2-fold by uncouplers, as compared to 1.6-1.7-fold in granule ghosts. The degree of energy coupling was rather independent of the external pH (6.5 less than pH less than 8.0) and temperature (20-45 degrees C). As expected, partial inhibition (about 15%) of the overall ATPase activity by 10 microM vanadate increased the ATPase control ratio. ADP was found to be a potent inhibitor of the proton pump activity with MgATP as the substrate, and the effect can partly be explained by a competitive type of inhibition of the hydrolytic reaction. This effect of ADP explains some of the kinetic data reported for MgATP-dependent (H+-ATPase-dependent) reactions in this organelle, notably the energy-dependent accumulation and storage of catecholamines.

Drug modification of protein thiophosphorylation in permeabilized chromaffin cells

Treatment of permeabilized chromaffin cells with low concentrations of the ATP analog adenosine-5?-O-(3-thiotriphosphate)[(35)S] results in (35)S incorporation into a small number of cellular proteins. Of these proteins, a 47 kilodalton protein is most heavily thiophosphorylated. Permeabilized cells were treated with various drugs known to influence cell functions, more specifically chromaffin granule function, to determine the kinase responsible for thiophosphorylation of the 47 kilodalton protein and if its thiophosphorylation is associated with a specific cell function. Several drugs which influence the activity of cell kinases were examined for their effect on secretion and thiophosphorylation of the 47 kilodalton protein. There was no qualitative effect of cAMP, cGMP or trifluoperazine on thiophosphorylation of the protein. Both cyclic nucleotides slightly enhanced secretion, while trifluoperazine enhanced only unstimulated catecholamine release. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate had no effect on secretion or (35)S incorporation into cell proteins. Only the free calcium concentration of the medium influenced thiophosphorylation of the 47 kilodalton protein, with increased calcium producing increased thiophosphorylation. Drugs affecting chromaffin vesicle functions were used to assess the relationship between specific functions and thiophosphorylation of the protein. Inhibition of nucleotide translocation with atractyloside or 4,4?diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2?disulfonic acid or inhibition of the proton translocating ATPase by N-ethylmaleimide inhibited thiophosphorylation of the 47 kilodalton protein, with little effect on secretion. Treatment with rotenone markedly enhanced secretion and thiophosphorylation of the protein. Calcium ionophores had no effect on thiophosphorylation of the protein. Dichloroacetic acid, which inhibits phosphorylation of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase, had no effect on secretion and a variable effect on thiophosphorylation of the 47 kilodalton protein. The data suggest that thiophosphorylation of the protein may be associated with nucleotide translocation across the vesicle membrane.

The assignment of the Ca2+-ATPase activity of chromaffin granules to the proton translocating ATPase

CaATP is shown to function as a substrate for the proton translocating ATPase of chromaffin granule ghosts at concentrations which are comparable to that of MgATP. Using the initial rate of the proton pump activity as the measure (delta pH/delta t), an apparent Km-value of 139 +/- 8 microM was estimated for CaATP and 59 +/- 3 microM for MgATP. The maximal rate was markedly higher with MgATP than with CaATP, partly due to an inhibition of the hydrolytic activity at the higher concentrations of CaATP. The proton pump activity with CaATP was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide at concentrations similar to that found for MgATP. No inhibition was observed with sodium vanadate in the concentration range 0-15 microM. Calmodulin and trifluoperazine had no effect on the overall ATPase activity with CaATP. These findings establish this activity as an intrinsic property of the chromaffin granules, i.e., linked to the H+-ATPase. No evidence was obtained for the presence of a Ca2+-translocating ATPase [Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase) in the chromaffin granules.