Intracellularly injected inositol hexakisphosphate induces a biphasic current in identified neurons of Aplysia

The role of voltage-gated calcium channels in pancreatic beta-cell physiology and pathophysiology

Voltage-gated calcium (CaV) channels are ubiquitously expressed in various cell types throughout the body. In principle, the molecular identity, biophysical profile, and pharmacological property of CaV channels are independent of the cell type where they reside, whereas these channels execute unique functions in different cell types, such as muscle contraction, neurotransmitter release, and hormone secretion. At least six CaValpha1 subunits, including CaV1.2, CaV1.3, CaV2.1, CaV2.2, CaV2.3, and CaV3.1, have been identified in pancreatic beta-cells. These pore-forming subunits complex with certain auxiliary subunits to conduct L-, P/Q-, N-, R-, and T-type CaV currents, respectively. beta-Cell CaV channels take center stage in insulin secretion and play an important role in beta-cell physiology and pathophysiology. CaV3 channels become expressed in diabetes-prone mouse beta-cells. Point mutation in the human CaV1.2 gene results in excessive insulin secretion. Trinucleotide expansion in the human CaV1.3 and CaV2.1 gene is revealed in a subgroup of patients with type 2 diabetes. beta-Cell CaV channels are regulated by a wide range of mechanisms, either shared by other cell types or specific to beta-cells, to always guarantee a satisfactory concentration of Ca2+. Inappropriate regulation of beta-cell CaV channels causes beta-cell dysfunction and even death manifested in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This review summarizes current knowledge of CaV channels in beta-cell physiology and pathophysiology.

Beta-cell CaV channel regulation in physiology and pathophysiology

The beta-cell is equipped with at least six voltage-gated Ca2+ (CaV) channel alpha1-subunits designated CaV1.2, CaV1.3, CaV2.1, CaV2.2, CaV2.3, and CaV3.1. These principal subunits, together with certain auxiliary subunits, assemble into different types of CaV channels conducting L-, P/Q-, N-, R-, and T-type Ca2+ currents, respectively. The beta-cell shares customary mechanisms of CaV channel regulation with other excitable cells, such as protein phosphorylation, Ca2+-dependent inactivation, and G protein modulation. However, the beta-cell displays some characteristic features to bring these mechanisms into play. In islet beta-cells, CaV channels can be highly phosphorylated under basal conditions and thus marginally respond to further phosphorylation. In beta-cell lines, CaV channels can be surrounded by tonically activated protein phosphatases dominating over protein kinases; thus their activity is dramatically enhanced by inhibition of protein phosphatases. During the last 10 years, we have revealed some novel mechanisms of beta-cell CaV channel regulation under physiological and pathophysiological conditions, including the involvement of exocytotic proteins, inositol hexakisphosphate, and type 1 diabetic serum. This minireview highlights characteristic features of customary mechanisms of CaV channel regulation in beta-cells and also reviews our studies on newly identified mechanisms of beta-cell CaV channel regulation.

Angiotensin II and acetylcholine differentially activate mobilization of inositol phosphates in Xenopus laevis ovarian follicles

Angiotensin II (AII) evokes a Ca(2+)-dependent Cl- current in Xenopus laevis ovarian follicles that appears to involve a pertussis-toxin-sensitive G protein mediating phosphoinositide hydrolysis and Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores. Follicle responses to AII closely resemble the two-component response stimulated by acetylcholine (ACh) in this tissue. Intraoocyte injections of phytic acid, heparin, and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3], acting as inhibitors of Ins(1,4,5)P3-induced Ca(2+)-release, resulted in loss of responsiveness to AII and ACh. As previously reported for ACh [Moriarty et al. (1988) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85: 8865-8869], pertussis toxin and microinjected GTP[gammaS] were found to inhibit follicle responses to AII, implying the involvement of a G protein. However, ACh and AII responses differ strikingly in the way they mobilize inositol phosphates and in densitization characteristics. We have previously been unable to find significant increases in inositol phosphates after 60 min stimulation (with Li+) by AII, although ACh potently activated increases in these [McIntosh and McIntosh (1990) Arch Biochem Biophys 283: 135-140]. In the present paper, AII was found to activate rapid increases in inositol bis- and trisphosphates after 1 min stimulation without Li+. ACh and AII also exerted different actions on follicle adenylate-cyclase-dependent responses. We conclude that at least two separate inositol-phosphate-linked receptor mechanisms may exist in ovarian follicles, resulting from involvement of one or more pertussis-toxin-sensitive G protein(s).

Inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate and inositol hexakisphosphate are inhibitors of the soluble inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate 3-phosphatase and the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate/1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate 5-phosphatase from pig brain

The influence of highly phosphorylated inositol phosphates on the Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 3-phosphatase enriched from the soluble fraction of pig brain was tested, using [5-32P]Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 as substrate. Both Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and InsP6 were very potent inhibitors of the Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 3-phosphatase. The Ki values were approximately 60 nM and approximately 3 nM for Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and InsP6 respectively. Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and InsP6 also inhibited the Ins(1,4,5)P3/Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 5-phosphatase. Using Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 as substrate, the Ki values were about 35 microM and 15 microM for Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and InsP6 respectively. The concentrations which led to a 50% inhibition of Ins(1,4,5)P3 (0.5 microM) degradation by the 5-phosphatase were about 20 and 10 microM for the pentakis- and hexakis-phosphate respectively. As the intracellular concentrations of Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and InsP6 are high (up to 60 microM) compared with those of the inositol trisphosphates and tetrakisphosphates, it is possible that the highly phosphorylated inositol phosphates act as regulators in the metabolism of Ca(2+)-mobilizing inositol phosphates.

Inositolhexakisphosphate is convulsant in mice and rats in the nanomolar range

The effect of i.c.v. administration of dodecasodium and dicalcium inositolhexakisphosphate (Na12IP6 and Ca2IP6, respectively) to mice and rats was studied. In mice, Na12IP6 (1-300 nmol) or Ca2IP6 (10-500 nmol) induced: ataxia, ground-hugging, tremor (often continuous), scratching, hyperlocomotion, wild running, myoclonic jerks, jumping, clonic muscle spasms, tonic seizure, followed by death or full recovery. The CD50 values for clonic seizures for Na12IP6 and Ca2IP6 were 16 and 49 nmol, respectively. The convulsant effect of Na12IP6 (15 nmol i.c.v.) was not blocked by pretreatment with D(-)-4-(3-phosphonoprop-2-enyl)-piperazine-2-carboxylate, but was dose dependently reduced by pretreatment with CaCl2 (30-60 nmol i.c.v.) and abolished by coadministration of CaCl2 (30 nmol) with Na12IP6 (i.c.v.). In rats, Na12IP6 (50 nmol i.c.v.) induced severe electroencephalographic seizures in the hippocampus and cortex. The potent convulsant effect of IP6 (administered i.c.v.) depends at least in part on a calcium-chelating action.

myo-inositol metabolites as cellular signals

The discovery of the second-messenger functions of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and diacylglycerol, the products of hormone-stimulated inositol phospholipid hydrolysis, marked a turning point in studies of hormone function. This review focuses on the myo-inositol moiety which is involved in an increasingly complex network of metabolic interconversions, myo-Inositol metabolites identified in eukaryotic cells include at least six glycerophospholipid isomers and some 25 distinct inositol phosphates which differ in the number and distribution of phosphate groups around the inositol ring. This apparent complexity can be simplified by assigning groups of myo-inositol metabolites to distinct functional compartments. For example, the phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase pathway functions to generate inositol phospholipids that are substrates for hormone-sensitive forms of inositol-phospholipid phospholipase C, whilst the newly discovered phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway generates lipids that are resistant to such enzymes and may function directly as novel mitogenic signals. Inositol phosphate metabolism functions to terminate the second-messenger activity of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, to recycle the latter's myo-inositol moiety and, perhaps, to generate additional signal molecules such as inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate, inositol pentakisphosphate and inositol hexakisphosphate. In addition to providing a more complete picture of the pathways of myo-inositol metabolism, recent studies have made rapid progress in understanding the molecular basis underlying hormonal stimulation of inositol-phospholipid-specific phospholipase C and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-mediated Ca2+ mobilisation.