Stored calcium modulates inositol phosphate synthesis in cultured smooth muscle cells

Tension oscillation in arteries and its abnormality in hypertensive animals

1. The mechanisms of oscillatory contraction of arterial smooth muscle in vitro are discussed. 2. The membrane potential and cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration in smooth muscle cells oscillate in the presence of agonists. 3. The oscillatory change in the membrane potential of smooth muscle cells is related to Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. 4. Gap junctions between smooth muscle cells play important roles in the synchronized oscillation of the cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration in this population of cells. 5. Endothelial cells may increase or decrease the tension oscillation of smooth muscle cells. 6. In arteries from hypertensive rats, an increase in membrane excitability and the number of gap junctions between smooth muscle cells and impaired endothelial function are the main factors responsible for the modulation of tension oscillation.

ET-1 modulates KCa-channel activity and arterial tension in normoxic and hypoxic human pulmonary vasculature

The molecular mechanisms by which endothelin (ET)-1 induces pulmonary hypertension are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of ET-1 on outward K+ currents of normoxic and chronically hypoxic human pulmonary arterial (PA) smooth muscle cells (HPSMCs). In normoxic HPSMCs, ET-1 has dual effects. In intact cells, 5 nM ET-1 activates the large-conductance and Ca2+-activated K+ (KCa)-channel current [IK(Ca)] by increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration, whereas it directly inhibits IK(Ca) in isolated membrane patches. At a higher concentration (10 nM), ET-1-induced IK(Ca) inhibition predominates. In hypoxic HPSMCs, ET-1 at 5 nM significantly reduces IK(Ca). The ETA-receptor antagonist BQ-123 reverses the ET-1-induced decrease in IK(Ca). Chronic BQ-123 treatment also prevents the hypoxia-induced decrease in IK(Ca). In PA rings obtained from human organ donors, ET-1 causes a concentration-dependent increase in tension. The ET-1-mediated increase in tension is reversed by a KCa-channel agonist. The increase in tension at the highest concentration studied (9 nM) was more pronounced in PA rings obtained from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These results imply that an ET-1-induced decrease in IK(Ca) contributes to chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Control of inositol phosphate turnover in human airways during histamine stimulation

The control of inositol phosphate (IP) turnover was investigated in intact human airway smooth muscle cells (SMC) during a brief exposure to a bronchoconstrictor agonist. The pool of membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate was labelled by incubating SMC with myo-[3H]inositol and the [3H]IPs synthetized ([3H]1,4-IP2, [3H]1,3,4,-IP3, [3H]1,4,5,-IP3 and [3H]1,3,4,5-IP4) were separated by HPLC. We examined the role of protein kinase C (PKC) and of Ca2+ on IP turnover during a 5 sec application of histamine. Activation of PKC with the phorbol ester PMA (0.2 microM) decreased, whereas inhibition of PKC with 1 microM staurosporine increased the production of the 4 IPs examined in unstimulated and in histamine-stimulated SMC. Decreasing [Ca2+]i with 5 microM ionomycin in the absence of external Ca2+ diminished the IP production whereas in the presence of Ca2+, ionomycin exalted it and potentiated the response to histamine. Thapsigargin, 5 microM, which depletes the 1,4,5-IP3-sensitive Ca2+ stores, reduced the IP production due to histamine. The effects of PMA, staurosporine and thapsigargin were also tested on [Ca2+]i in fura-2-loaded single SMC. These results reveal that PKC exerts a negative and Ca2+ a positive feedback control on phospholipase C, that operate within 5 sec of agonist stimulation.

Functionally and spatially distinct Ca2+ stores are revealed in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells

Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ in vascular smooth muscle may be separated into at least two types of Ca2+ stores, one releasable by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and the other releasable by caffeine and ryanodine. We employed digital imaging with fura-2 to study the effects of thapsigargin (which blocks Ca2+ sequestration in the inositol trisphosphate-sensitive store) and caffeine on the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) in cultured arterial myocytes. These agents increased [Ca2+]cyt by depleting different Ca2+ stores in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. Moreover, Ca2+ could be transferred between the two stores, as prior application of caffeine, which alone evoked little or no rise in [Ca2+]cyt, significantly augmented the response to thapsigargin. Conversely, a substantial caffeine-induced rise in [Ca2+]cyt was observed only after the ability of the thapsigargin-sensitive Ca2+ store to sequester Ca2+ was inhibited. This suggests that the caffeine-sensitive store may have a thapsigargin-insensitive Ca(2+)-sequestration mechanism. To complement these fura-2 experiments, chlortetracycline was used to visualize the Ca2+ stores directly. The latter studies revealed spatial differences in the location of the thapsigargin-sensitive and caffeine-sensitive Ca2+ stores (measured as thapsigargin-sensitive and caffeine-sensitive chlortetracycline fluorescence). Thus, these two types of stores appear to be both functionally and spatially distinct.

Membrane potential regulates Ca2+ uptake and inositol phosphate generation in rat sublingual mucous acini

In salivary acinar cells, muscarinic-induced fluid secretion is associated with a 1,4,5-IP3 induced increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), which in turn activates Ca(2+)-dependent K+ and Cl- channels that modulate the membrane potential. In the present study the influence of the membrane potential on [Ca2+]i and inositol phosphates was monitored in rat sublingual mucous acini. Depolarization induced by switching from 5.8 mM extracellular K+ ([K+]e) to 116 mM [K+]e resulted in a transient increase in the [Ca2+]i measured using the Ca2+ sensitive fluorescent indicator Fura-2. This initial rapid (t1/2 approximately 5 s) increase (approximately 3-fold) in [Ca2+]i was dependent on extracellular Ca2+, insensitive to nifedipine, and followed by establishment of a 'new' resting [Ca2+]i, approximately 35% higher than the level in physiological [K+]e. Depolarization also induced a significant rise in the resting cellular inositol trisphosphate (IP3) and inositol tetrakisphosphate (IP4) contents, but not 1,4,5-IP3 content. Stimulation with 10 microM carbachol (CCh, a muscarinic agonist) produced a biphasic increase in [Ca2+]i, the initial transient phase due to mobilization of Ca2+ from an intracellular pool, and a sustained phase mediated by an influx of Ca2+. Membrane depolarization had no effect on the initial phase, while, the sustained increase in [Ca2+]i was eliminated. The CCh-enhanced quench of the Fura-2 signal by Mn2+ (an index for divalent cation entry) was reversibly inhibited by depolarization. The enhanced Mn2+ uptake induced by inhibiting microsomal Ca(2+)-ATPase with thapsigargin was similarly inhibited by membrane depolarization, consistent with the effect of depolarization primarily acting on the Ca2+ entry pathway and not on receptor coupling. Depolarization did not alter the initial CCh-induced increases in IP3, IP4 or 1,4,5-IP3 content, or the sustained increase in 1,4,5-IP3, whereas, depolarization significantly blunted (> 70%) the sustained, CCh-induced generation of IP3 and IP4. The membrane potential, therefore, appears to modulate Ca2+ activated fluid secretion by controlling the driving force for Ca2+ entry via a depletion-activated Ca2+ entry pathway. Inositol phosphate metabolism is also influenced by the membrane potential, but this effect apparently plays a minor role in regulating [Ca2+]i since 1,4,5-IP3 levels were unchanged by depolarization.