Expression, purification, electron microscopy, N-glycosylation mutagenesis and molecular modeling of human P2X4 and Dictyostelium discoideum P2XA

P2X4: A fast and sensitive purinergic receptor

Extracellular nucleotides have been recognized as important mediators of activation, triggering multiple responses via plasma membrane receptors known as P2 receptors. P2 receptors comprise P2X ionotropic receptors and G protein-coupled P2Y receptors. P2X receptors are expressed in many tissues, where they are involved in a number of functions including synaptic transmission, muscle contraction, platelet aggregation, inflammation, macrophage activation, differentiation and proliferation, neuropathic and inflammatory pain. P2X4 is one of the most sensitive purinergic receptors (at nanomolar ATP concentrations), about one thousand times more than the archetypal P2X7. P2X4 is widely expressed in central and peripheral neurons, in microglia, and also found in various epithelial tissues and endothelial cells. It localizes on the plasma membrane, but also in intracellular compartments. P2X4 is preferentially localized in lysosomes, where it is protected from proteolysis by its glycosylation. High ATP concentration in the lysosomes does not activate P2X4 at low pH; P2X4 gets activated by intra-lysosomal ATP only in its fully dissociated tetra-anionic form, when the pH increases to 7.4. Thus, P2X4 is functioning as a Ca2+-channel after the fusion of late endosomes and lysosomes. P2X4 modulates major neurotransmitter systems and regulates alcohol-induced responses in microglia. P2X4 is one of the key receptors mediating neuropathic pain. However, injury-induced upregulation of P2X4 expression is gender dependent and plays a key role in pain difference between males and females. P2X4 is also involved in inflammation. Extracellular ATP being a pro-inflammatory molecule, P2X4 can trigger inflammation in response to high ATP release. It is therefore involved in multiple pathologies, like post-ischemic inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, airways inflammation in asthma, neurodegenerative diseases and even metabolic syndrome. Although P2X4 remains poorly characterized, more studies are needed as it is likely to be a potential therapeutic target in these multiple pathologies.

Primitive ATP-activated P2X receptors: discovery, function and pharmacology

Adenosine 5-triphosphate (ATP) is omnipresent in biology. It is therefore no surprise that organisms have evolved multifaceted roles for ATP, exploiting its abundance and restriction of passive diffusion across biological membranes. A striking role is the emergence of ATP as a bona fide transmitter molecule, whereby the movement of ATP across membranes serves as a chemical message through a direct ligand-receptor interaction. P2X receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast responses to the transmitter ATP in mammalian cells including central and sensory neurons, vascular smooth muscle, endothelium, and leukocytes. Molecular cloning of P2X receptors and our understanding of structure-function relationships has provided sequence information with which to query an exponentially expanding wealth of genome sequence information including protist, early animal and human pathogen genomes. P2X receptors have now been cloned and characterized from a number of simple organisms. Such work has led to surprising new cellular roles for the P2X receptors family and an unusual phylogeny, with organisms such as Drosophila and C. elegans notably lacking P2X receptors despite retaining ionotropic receptors for other common transmitters that are present in mammals. This review will summarize current work on the evolutionary biology of P2X receptors and ATP as a signaling molecule, discuss what can be drawn from such studies when considering the action of ATP in higher animals and plants, and outline how simple organisms may be exploited experimentally to inform P2X receptor function in a wider context.

Moving through the gate in ATP-activated P2X receptors

P2X receptors are nonselective cation channels gated by extracellular ATP. They represent new therapeutic targets, and they form channels with a unique trimeric architecture. In 2009, the first crystal structure of a P2X receptor was reported, in which the receptor was in an ATP-free, closed channel state. However, our view recently changed when a second crystal structure was reported, in which a P2X receptor was bound to ATP and resolved in an open channel conformation. This remarkable structure not only confirms many key experimental data, including the recent mechanisms of ATP binding and ion permeation, but also reveals unanticipated mechanisms. Certainly, this new information will accelerate our understanding of P2X receptor function and pharmacology at the atomic level.

Visualization of the solubilization process of the plasma membrane of a living cell by waveguide evanescent field fluorescence microscopy

Waveguide evanescent field fluorescence microscopy (WEFF) is a novel microscopy technology that allows imaging of a cell's plasma membrane in the vicinity of a glass substrate with high axial resolution, low background and little photobleaching. Time-lapse imaging can be performed to investigate changes in cell morphology in the presence or absence of chemical agents. WEFF microscopy provides a method to investigate plasma membranes of living cells and allows a comparison to simplified model membranes immobilized on planar substrates. The interaction of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 with plasma membranes of osteoblasts in an aqueous environment was investigated. Solubilization of the membranes very close to the waveguide surface was visualized and related to the three-stage solubilisation model proposed for liposomes and supported lipid bilayers. Findings for the plasma membranes of cells are in excellent agreement with results reported for these artificial model systems.