Differential effects of bupivacaine enantiomers, ropivacaine and lidocaine on up-regulation of cell surface voltage-dependent sodium channels in adrenal chromaffin cells

The Emerging Role of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels in Tumor Biology

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are transmembrane proteins which function as gates that control the flux of ions across the cell membrane. They are key ion channels for action potentials in excitable tissues and have important physiological functions. Abnormal function of VGSCs will lead to dysfunction of the body and trigger a variety of diseases. Various studies have demonstrated the participation of VGSCs in the progression of different tumors, such as prostate cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and others, linking VGSC to the invasive capacity of tumor cells. However, it is still unclear whether the VGSC regulate the malignant biological behavior of tumors. Therefore, this paper systematically addresses the latest research progress on VGSCs subunits and tumors and the underlying mechanisms, and it summarizes the potential of VGSCs subunits to serve as potential targets for tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Molecular Characterization of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels and Their Relations with Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Bioaccumulation in the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) bind to voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) and block conduction of action potential in excitable cells. This study aimed to (i) characterize Nav sequences in Crassostrea gigas and (ii) investigate a putative relation between Nav and PST-bioaccumulation in oysters. The phylogenetic analysis highlighted two types of Nav in C. gigas: a Nav1 (CgNav1) and a Nav2 (CgNav2) with sequence properties of sodium-selective and sodium/calcium-selective channels, respectively. Three alternative splice transcripts of CgNav1 named A, B and C, were characterized. The expression of CgNav1, analyzed by in situ hybridization, is specific to nervous cells and to structures corresponding to neuromuscular junctions. Real-time PCR analyses showed a strong expression of CgNav1A in the striated muscle while CgNav1B is mainly expressed in visceral ganglia. CgNav1C expression is ubiquitous. The PST binding site (domain II) of CgNav1 variants possess an amino acid Q that could potentially confer a partial saxitoxin (STX)-resistance to the channel. The CgNav1 genotype or alternative splicing would not be the key point determining PST bioaccumulation level in oysters.

Regulation of voltage-gated sodium channel expression in cancer: hormones, growth factors and auto-regulation

Although ion channels are increasingly being discovered in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and shown to contribute to different aspects and stages of the cancer process, much less is known about the mechanisms controlling their expression. Here, we focus on voltage-gated Na⁺ channels (VGSCs) which are upregulated in many types of carcinomas where their activity potentiates cell behaviours integral to the metastatic cascade. Regulation of VGSCs occurs at a hierarchy of levels from transcription to post-translation. Importantly, mainstream cancer mechanisms, especially hormones and growth factors, play a significant role in the regulation. On the whole, in major hormone-sensitive cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer, there is a negative association between genomic steroid hormone sensitivity and functional VGSC expression. Activity-dependent regulation by positive feedback has been demonstrated in strongly metastatic cells whereby the VGSC is self-sustaining, with its activity promoting further functional channel expression. Such auto-regulation is unlike normal cells in which activity-dependent regulation occurs mostly via negative feedback. Throughout, we highlight the possible clinical implications of functional VGSC expression and regulation in cancer.

Dexmedetomidine and clonidine inhibit the function of Na(v)1.7 independent of α(2)-adrenoceptor in adrenal chromaffin cells

PURPOSE

Besides being administered systemically for sedation and analgesia, α(2)-agonists such as dexmedetomidine and clonidine have been administered with intrathecal, epidural, or perineural injections, leading to an antinociceptive effect at the spinal cord or peripheral nerve level. However, the mechanism for this remains unclear. In the present study, we examined whether dexmedetomidine and clonidine could inhibit the function of tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na(+) channels, which play important roles in the generation of pain.

METHODS

Cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells expressing the tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na(v)1.7 Na(+) channel isoform were incubated in KRP buffer containing 2 μCi (22)NaCl for 5 min without or with dexmedetomidine or clonidine in the absence or presence of veratridine, α-scorpion venom, β-scorpion venom, Ptychodiscus brevis toxin-3 or ouabain. Cells were then washed and counted radioactively.

RESULTS

Dexmedetomidine and clonidine reduced veratridine-induced (22)Na(+) influx via Na(v)1.7 in a concentration-dependent manner (EC(50) = 50 μM and 530 μM), even in the presence of ouabain, an inhibitor of Na(+), K(+)-ATPase. Dexmedetomidine and clonidine shifted the concentration-response curve of veratridine for (22)Na(+) influx downward without altering the EC(50) of veratridine. Atipamezole and yohimbine, α(2)-antagonists, did not prevent the inhibition of veratridine-induced (22)Na(+) influx by dexmedetomidine. Dexmedetomidine and clonidine combined with lidocaine induced more inhibition of veratridine-induced (22)Na(+) influx than each drug did individually. Atipamezole and yohimbine did not prevent the lidocaine-enhancing effect of dexmedetomidine and clonidine.

CONCLUSION

Dexmedetomidine and clonidine inhibit the function of Na(v)1.7 independent of α(2)-adrenoceptor. These results may lead to a deeper understanding of the peripheral antinociceptive effects of α (2)-agonists.

Voltage-dependent Na(v)1.7 sodium channels: multiple roles in adrenal chromaffin cells and peripheral nervous system

Voltage-dependent Na+ channels consist of the principal alpha-subunit (approximately 260 kDa), without or with auxiliary beta-subunit (approximately 38 kDa). Nine alpha-subunit isoforms (Na(v)1.1-Na(v)1.9) are encoded in nine different genes (SCN1A-SCN5A and SCN8A-SCN11A). Besides initiating and propagating action potentials in established neuronal circuit, Na+ channels engrave, maintain and repair neuronal network in the brain throughout the life. Adrenal chromaffin cells express Na(v)1.7 encoded in SCN9A, which is widely distributed among peripheral autonomic and sensory ganglia, neuroendocrine cells, as well as prostate cancer cell lines. In chromaffin cells, Na(v)1.7-specific biophysical properties have been characterized; physiological stimulation by acetylcholine produces muscarinic receptor-mediated hyperpolarization followed by nicotinic receptor-mediated depolarization. In human patients with Na(v)1.7 channelopathies, gain-of-pathological function mutants (i.e. erythermalgia and paroxysmal extreme pain disorder) or loss-of-physiological function mutant (channelopathy-associated insensitivity to pain) proved the causal involvement of mutant Na(v)1.7 in generating intolerable pain syndrome, Na(v)1.7 being the first molecular target convincingly identified for pain treatment. Importantly, aberrant upregulation/hyperactivity of even the native Na(v)1.7 produces pain associated with inflammation, nerve injury and diabetic neuropathy in rodents. Various extra- and intracellular signals, as well as therapeutic drugs modulate the activity of Na(v)1.7, and also cause up- and downregulation of Na(v)1.7. Na(v)1.7 seems to play an increasing number of crucial roles in health, disease and therapeutics.

Lysophosphatidic acid-LPA1 receptor-Rho-Rho kinase-induced up-regulation of Nav1.7 sodium channel mRNA and protein in adrenal chromaffin cells: enhancement of 22Na+ influx, 45Ca2+ influx and catecholamine secretion

In cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells, chronic (> or = 24 h) treatment with lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) augmented veratridine-induced 22Na+ influx via Na(v)1.7 by approximately 22% (EC(50) = 1 nmol/L), without changing nicotine-induced 22Na+ influx via nicotinic receptor-associated channel. LPA enhanced veratridine (but not nicotine)-induced 45Ca2+ influx via voltage-dependent calcium channel and catecholamine secretion. LPA shifted concentration-response curve of veratridine for 22Na+ influx upward, without altering the EC(50) of veratridine. Ptychodiscus brevis toxin-3 allosterically enhanced veratridine-induced 22Na+ influx by twofold in non-treated and LPA-treated cells. Whole-cell patch-clamp analysis showed that peak Na+ current amplitude was greater by 39% in LPA (100 nmol/L for 36 h)-treated cells; however, I-V curve and steady-state inactivation/activation curves were comparable between non-treated and LPA-treated cells. LPA treatment (> or = 24 h) increased cell surface [3H]saxitoxin binding by approximately 28%, without altering the K(d) value; the increase was prevented by cycloheximide, actinomycin D, or Ki16425, dioctylglycerol pyrophosphate 8:0 (two inhibitors of LPA(1) and LPA3 receptors), or botulinum toxin C3 (Rho inhibitor), Y27632 (Rho kinase inhibitor), consistent with LPA(1) receptor expression in adrenal chromaffin cells. LPA raised Nav1.7 mRNA level by approximately 37%. Thus, LPA-LPA(1) receptor-Rho/Rho kinase pathway up-regulated cell surface Nav1.7 and Nav1.7 mRNA levels, enhancing veratridine-induced Ca2+ influx and catecholamine secretion.

Amino acid transporter ATA2 is stored at the trans-Golgi network and released by insulin stimulus in adipocytes

Recently, we cloned the ATA/SNAT transporters responsible for amino acid transport system A. System A is one of the major transport systems for small neutral and glucogenic amino acids represented by alanine and is involved in the metabolism of glucose and fat. Here, we describe the cellular mechanisms that participate in the acute translocation of ATA2 by insulin stimulus in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We monitored this insulin-stimulated translocation of ATA2 using an expression system of enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged ATA2. Studies in living cells revealed that ATA2 is stored in a discrete perinuclear site and that the transporter is released in vesicles from this site toward the plasma membrane. In immunofluorescent analysis, the storage site of ATA2 overlapped with the location of syntaxin 6, a marker of the trans-Golgi network (TGN), but not with that of EEA1, a marker of the early endosomes. The ATA2-containing vesicles on or near the plasma membrane were distinct from GLUT4-containing vesicles. Brefeldin A, an inhibitor of vesicular exit from the TGN, caused morphological changes in the ATA2 storage site along with the similar changes in the TGN. In non-transfected adipocytes, brefeldin A inhibited insulin-stimulated uptake of alpha-(methylamino)isobutyric acid more profoundly than insulin-stimulated uptake of 2-deoxy-d-glucose. These data demonstrate that the ATA2 storage site is specifically associated with the TGN and not with the general endosomal recycling system. Thus, the insulin-stimulated translocation pathways for ATA2 and GLUT4 in adipocytes are distinct, involving different storage sites.

Activity-dependent regulation of voltage-gated Na+ channel expression in Mat-LyLu rat prostate cancer cell line

We have shown previously that voltage-gated Na(+) channels (VGSCs) are up-regulated in human metastatic disease (prostate, breast and small-cell lung cancers), and that VGSC activity potentiates metastatic cell behaviours. However, the mechanism(s) regulating functional VGSC expression in cancer cells remains unknown. We investigated the possibility of activity-dependent (auto)regulation of VGSC functional expression in the strongly metastatic Mat-LyLu model of rat prostate cancer. Pretreatment with tetrodotoxin (TTX) for 24-72 h subsequently suppressed peak VGSC current density without affecting voltage dependence. The hypothesis was tested that the VGSC auto-regulation occurred via VGSC-mediated Na(+) influx and subsequent activation of protein kinase A (PKA). Indeed, TTX pretreatment reduced the level of phosphorylated PKA, and the PKA inhibitor KT5720 decreased, whilst the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and the Na(+) ionophore monensin both increased the peak VGSC current density. TTX reduced the mRNA level of Nav1.7, predominant in these cells, and VGSC protein expression at the plasma membrane, although the total VGSC protein level remained unchanged. TTX pretreatment eliminated the VGSC-dependent component of the cells' migration in Transwell assays. We concluded that the VGSC activity in Mat-LyLu rat prostate cancer cells was up-regulated in steady-state via a positive feedback mechanism involving PKA, and this enhanced the cells' migratory potential.

Roles of Voltage-Dependent Sodium Channels in Neuronal Development, Pain, and Neurodegeneration

Besides initiating and propagating action potentials in established neuronal circuits, voltage-dependent sodium channels sculpt and bolster the functional neuronal network from early in embryonic development through adulthood (e.g., differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells into oligodendrocytes, myelinating axon; competition between neighboring equipotential neurites for development into a single axon; enhancing and opposing functional interactions with attractive and repulsive molecules for axon pathfinding; extending and retracting terminal arborization of axon for correct synapse formation; experience-driven cognition; neuronal survival; and remyelination of demyelinated axons). Surprisingly, different patterns of action potentials direct homeostasis-based epigenetic selection for neurotransmitter phenotype, thus excitability by sodium channels specifying expression of inhibitory neurotransmitters. Mechanisms for these pleiotropic effects of sodium channels include reciprocal interactions between neurons and glia via neurotransmitters, growth factors, and cytokines at synapses and axons. Sodium channelopathies causing pain (e.g., allodynia) and neurodegeneration (e.g., multiple sclerosis) derive from 1) electrophysiological disturbances by insults (e.g., ischemia/hypoxia, toxins, and antibodies); 2) loss-of-physiological function or gain-of-pathological function of mutant sodium channel proteins; 3) spatiotemporal inappropriate expression of normal sodium channel proteins; or 4) de-repressed expression of otherwise silent sodium channel genes. Na(v)1.7 proved to account for pain in human erythermalgia and inflammation, being the convincing molecular target of pain treatment.