Use of elastase as an internal standard in immunoblotting techniques

Dexamethasone increases intracellular cyclic AMP concentration in murine T lymphocyte cell lines

The effects of the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone on the cAMP content of murine T lymphocyte cell lines has been investigated. Incubation of the 3B4.15 T cell hybrids with dexamethasone results in an average 5-fold increase in intracellular cyclic AMP levels after 6 h of treatment. This phenomenon is abolished in the presence of RU486 and of cycloheximide, indicating that it requires binding of the drug to the intracellular glucocorticoids receptor and de novo protein synthesis. Dexamethasone-induced elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP correlates with both an increase in adenylate cyclase activity and a decrease in phosphodiesterase activity in T cell hybrids. This modulation of cyclic AMP metabolism is independent of serum-derived factors, suggesting that it is not secondary to transmembrane receptor stimulation by an extracellular ligand. We propose that glucocorticoids interfere with the homeostatic control of intracellular cAMP concentration, leading to a sustained increase in the content of this important second messenger in murine T lymphocyte cell lines. This study suggests that elevation of cAMP levels may represent one way by which glucocorticoids modulate the immune response.

Effect of maturation and aging on beta-adrenergic signal transduction in rat kidney and liver

The characteristics of the beta-adrenergic signal transduction system were analyzed in kidney and liver membrane preparations from neonatal (2-3 days), mature (2 months), and old (2 years) rats. When comparing kidneys from adult to neonatal rats, we found a higher beta-receptor density and a higher percentage of beta(1)-receptor subtype, lower immunoreactive G(salpha)-protein, a lower ratio between the high and low molecular weight splice variant of G(salpha), lower immunoreactive G(ialpha)-protein, and lower basal adenylate cyclase activity. When comparing livers from adult to neonatal rats, we found lower beta-receptor density and basal adenylate cyclase activity. Very few differences could be detected when comparing mature to old kidneys or livers. Stimulated adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) synthesis was tissue- and age-dependent. In liver, G-protein- and beta-receptor-stimulated cAMP synthesis mirrored basal adenylate cyclase activity and was highest in liver from neonatal animals. In contrast, cAMP synthesis was significantly more stimulated in kidneys from mature animals than from neonatal and senescent rats. We conclude that: (i) the stoichiometry of the components within the beta-receptor/G-protein/adenylate cyclase complex is not fixed but is both tissue- and age-dependent; (ii) adenylate cyclase enzyme activity is possibly but not necessarily the rate-limiting step in the beta-receptor-mediated synthesis of cAMP; and (iii) there is in vivo evidence for a preferential co-expression of the large splice variant of the G(s)-protein and beta(2)-receptor subtype. It is speculated that this could have important physiological consequences for the development of the kidney.

G-proteins in kidneys of spontaneously hypertensive rats

G(s alpha)-, total G(i alpha)- and G(q/11alpha)-protein concentrations were investigated by quantitative immunoblotting in membranes of total kidney, renal cortex and medulla as well as in cortical tubules and glomeruli of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), aged 5 weeks, 3 or 8 months. We found that total kidney of 5 week old SHR possess less G(s alpha)-, G(i alpha)- and G(q/11alpha)-proteins than controls. For G(s alpha)-proteins, differences found in total kidney were mirrored both in cortex (tubules and glomeruli) and in medulla. Decreased G(i alpha)-concentrations were accompanied by lower tubular but higher glomerular levels, while medullar levels were also increased. Decreased G(q/11alpha)-concentrations were reflected in decreased glomerular and medullary concentrations. Kidneys of 3 month old SHR and WKY possessed similar concentrations of all G(alpha)-species. In 8 month old SHR similar G(i alpha)-, but decreased G(s alpha)-and G(q/11alpha)-concentrations were observed. The G(s alpha)-decrease was reflected in cortex and medulla, the G(q/11alpha)-decrease in the medulla. We conclude that the main strain-related differences in G(alpha)-concentrations are seen in prehypertensive SHR.

Properties of the ventricular adrenergic signal transduction system during ontogeny of spontaneous hypertension in rats

The purpose of this study was to characterize adrenergic receptors and associated G proteins in ventricles of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) at different stages of development. The beta- and alpha1-adrenoceptor densities and subtype distribution, and beta-adrenoceptor-G protein coupling were studied by radioligand binding, and levels of G(Salpha), G(ialpha), and G(q/11alpha) protein species were determined by Western blotting in SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats aged 3.5 weeks, 3 months, and 8 months. In 3.5-week-old SHRs, both the beta-adrenoceptor density and the percentage of agonist high-affinity binding sites were higher than in age-matched WKY rats. The beta1/beta2-subtype distribution, the alpha1-adrenoceptor density, and the alpha1B/alpha1A-subtype distribution were similar in rats of both strains at all ages. Although essentially no differences in G(salpha) levels between SHRs and WKY rats were detected, higher G(ialpha) and lower Gq/1alpha concentrations were found in 3.5-week-old SHRs. In 3-month-old SHRs, increased levels of Gq/11alpha proteins were observed. In 8-month-old SHRs, none of the parameters was different from those of controls. We conclude that the differences in properties of the adrenergic signal transduction system between SHRs and WKY rats are exclusively observable before and at the onset of the overt hypertension. Moreover, the hypertensive genotype apparently affects G proteins more readily than adrenoceptors.