Use of calcium ionophores to determine the effects of intracellular calcium on the action potential of canine cardiac Purkinje fibers

A Signaling Factor Linked to Toxoplasma gondii Guanylate Cyclase Complex Controls Invasion and Egress during Acute and Chronic Infection

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular apicomplexan parasite that relies on cyclic GMP (cGMP)-dependent signaling to trigger timely egress from host cells in response to extrinsic and intrinsic signals. A guanylate cyclase (GC) complex, conserved across the Apicomplexa, plays a pivotal role in integrating these signals, such as the key lipid mediator phosphatidic acid and changes in pH and ionic composition. This complex is composed of an atypical GC fused to a flippase-like P4-ATPase domain and assembled with the cell division control protein CDC50.1 and a unique GC organizer (UGO). While the dissemination of the fast-replicating tachyzoites responsible for acute infection is well understood, it is less clear if the cyst-forming bradyzoites can disseminate and contribute to cyst burden. Here, we characterized a novel component of the GC complex recently termed signaling linking factor (SLF). Tachyzoites conditionally depleted in SLF are impaired in microneme exocytosis, conoid extrusion, and motility and hence unable to invade and egress. A stage-specific promoter swap strategy allowed the generation of SLF- and GC-deficient bradyzoites that are viable as tachyzoites but show a reduction in cyst burden during the onset of chronic infection. Upon oral infection, SLF-deficient cysts failed to establish infection in mice, suggesting SLF's importance for the natural route of T. gondii infection. IMPORTANCE Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa. This life-threatening opportunistic pathogen establishes a chronic infection in human and animals that is resistant to immune attacks and chemotherapeutic intervention. The slow-growing parasites persist in tissue cysts that constitute a predominant source of transmission. Host cell invasion and egress are two critical steps of the parasite lytic cycle that are governed by a guanylate cyclase complex conserved across the Apicomplexa. A signaling linked factor is characterized here as an additional component of the complex that not only is essential during acute infection but also plays a pivotal role during natural oral infection with tissue cysts' dissemination and persistence.

[Electrophysiological Effects of Ionophore-induced Increases in Intracellular Na+ in Cardiomyocytes]

Na ionophores increase intracellular Na⁺ ([Na⁺]i). Membrane potentials and currents were measured using microelectrode and whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. Monensin (10^-6-3×10^-5 M) reduced the slope of the pacemaker potentials and shortened the action potential duration (APD) in sino-atrial nodal and Purkinje cells. Monensin (10^-5 M) shortened the APD and reduced the amplitude of the plateau phase in ventricular myocytes. Monensin decreased the hyperpolarization-activated inward current (I_f), and it increased the transient outward potassium current (I_to) in Purkinje cells. In addition, monensin decreased the sodium current (I_Na), shifting the inactivation curve to the hyperpolarized direction. Moreover, monensin decreased the L-type calcium current (I_Ca) in ventricular myocytes. The Na⁺-Ca²⁺ exchange current (I_Na-Ca) was augmented particularly in the reverse mode, and the Na⁺-K⁺ pump current (I_Na-K) was also activated by monensin in cardiomyocytes. The ATP-activated potassium current (I_K,ATP) could be induced by monensin. Notably, the inward rectifying K⁺ current (I_K1), and the slow delayed outward K⁺ current (I_Ks) were not affected evidently by monensin. Collectively, alteration of [Na⁺]i can influence the activities of various ion channels and transporters. Thus, the significance of altered [Na⁺]i should be taken into consideration in the action of drugs affecting [Na⁺]i such as digitalis, Na⁺ channel blockers, and Na⁺ channel activating agents.

Prevention of monensin-induced hyperpolarization in NG108-15 cells

The NG 108-15 (neuroblastoma X glioma hybrid) cell line was used as an in vitro neuronal model to evaluate potential antagonists of the Na+-selective carboxylic ionophore monensin. Changes in membrane electrical characteristics induced by monensin with and without the simultaneous administration of antagonists were measured using intracellular microelectrode techniques. Bath application of monensin (3 microM) produced a hyperpolarization of approximately = 35 mV. Monensin also altered the generation of action potentials in response to electrical stimulation in 14 of 24 (58%) exposed cells, as evident in a partial or complete loss of action potentials or in an alteration of action potential waveform. The antagonists used were Na+-K+ pump inhibitor ouabain (1-3 microM), the Ca2+dependent K+ channel blocker quinine (3-30 microM) or drugs known to influence Ca2+ signaling in cells, i.e., trifluoperazine (3-10 microM), verapamil (1-10 microM) or chlorpromazine (3-30 microM). On a molar basis, ouabain was the most and trifluoperazine the least effective of the antagonists. Quinine, verapamil and chlorpromazine all prevented the development of the hyperpolarization in an approximate concentration-dependent manner. However, none of these drugs was able to block the effects of monensin on action potentials. Indeed, high concentrations of the antagonists that were most effective in preventing the hyperpolarization accentuated impairments in action potential generation and also reduced input resistance in many cells. Thus, none of these antagonists appears suitable for transition to in vivo antidotal protection studies.

Comparative mechanical and electrical actions of A23187 and X-537A in canine Purkinje fibers

1. At concentrations lower than 10(-5) M, A23187 did not affect the contractile force in canine Purkinje fibers, but at 2 x 10(-5) M, decreased it significantly. 2. X-537A (10(-6) M) slightly increased the contractile force. The increase was not modified by 10(-7) M pindolol. 3. At 20 min after application both ionophores (2 x 10(-5) M) affected little or no changes in the action potential configurations, except for a marked shortening of the action potential duration. A delayed afterdepolarization and an aftercontraction occurred. 4. The electrophysiological effects were potentiated with an increase in extracellular Ca2+ and further by isoproterenol (1-3 x 10(-7) M). 5. A post-rest potentiation was depressed in the presence of these Ca2+ ionophores. 6. When the stimulation frequency was stepped up from 120 to 180 beats/min, the negative staircase of the contractile force was reversed to positive one in the presence of A23187, high Ca2+ and isoproterenol. 7. These results indicate that in canine Purkinje fibers, X-537A produces cellular Ca2+ overload, but A23187 alone does not cause it. Mechanical and electrophysiological effects induced by these ionophores are potentiated by addition of high Ca2+ and isoproterenol.

Effects of the divalent cation ionophore ionomycin on the performance of isolated guinea-pig atria

In isolated electrically driven left and in spontaneously beating right guinea-pig atria, the calcium ionophore ionomycin produced a concentration-dependent positive inotropic and chronotropic effect with a threshold near 10(-7) mol/l and a pD2 of 6.31 +/- 0.09 and 5.94 +/- 0.07, respectively. At low [Ca2+]o (0.5 mmol/l), the positive inotropic effect of ionomycin (3 X 10(-6) mol/l) was strongly attenuated by ryanodine and nifedipine, and slightly attenuated by pindolol and mepyramine; atropine had no effect. The positive chronotropic effect of ionomycin was slightly reduced by cimetidine or pindolol, whereas atropine, nifedipine, and ryanodine showed no inhibitory activity. The oxygen consumption of resting left atria was significantly enhanced by addition of ionomycin. It is concluded that the action of ionomycin involves at least the following mechanisms: I) release of Ca2+ from sarcoplasmic reticulum, II) influx of Ca2+ from the extracellular space, and, having little significance, III) release of catecholamines and histamine from sympathetic nerve endings and tissue mast cells. However, additional mechanisms of action of ionomycin cannot be excluded.

Temperature-dependent inotropic action of A23187 on guinea-pig ventricular muscles

The effects of the Ca2+ ionophore, A23187, on the contraction and membrane action potential of the isolated guinea-pig papillary muscle were examined at various temperatures (30-16 degrees C) and compared to those of isoprenaline and a high calcium medium. A23187 caused a marked positive inotropic effect with a significant prolongation of the action potential duration at an early repolarization phase but not a late repolarization phase at normal temperature (30 degrees C). Such an inotropic effect was completely abolished at low temperature (16 degrees C) where a marked positive inotropic effect of isoprenaline (5 X 10(-8) M) and a high calcium medium (6.2 mM) still remained. These results suggest that the cardiac responsiveness to A23187 was sensitive to a low temperature at which a membrane lipid phase transition may occur.

Cellular basis for arrhythmogenicity of ionophores with different cation selectivities

In high concentrations, the ionophores salinomycin, monensin and X-537A cause cardiac arrhythmias in vivo. To determine if these arrhythmias result from a direct action of these ionophores on cardiac electrophysiology, we studied their effects on automaticity and transmembrane action potentials of isolated canine left ventricular Purkinje fibers. High concentrations of the ionophores suppressed automaticity and shortened action potential duration. These data suggest that high concentrations of the ionophores provoke cardiac arrhythmias in vivo by similar mechanisms despite their diverse cation transport selectivities.

Actions of prenalterol, a new cardioselective beta1-agonist, terbutaline and isoprenaline on electrophysiological and mechanical parameters of guinea pig atrial and papillary muscles

The electrophysiological and mechanical effects of prenalterol on the isolated guinea pig atrial trabeculae and papillary muscles were compared with those of terbutaline and isoprenaline. Isoprenaline was the most potent of the drugs tested on all parameters studied. Prenalterol, on the other hand, failed to induce any changes in the atrial action potentials. The action potential duration was shortened in the atrial trabeculae by terbutaline and isoprenaline. All three substances shortened the action potential in the papillary muscles. In addition, isoprenaline increased the plateau height, and like terbutaline, increased the rate of repolarization during phase 3. Neither prenalterol nor terbutaline changed the effective refractory period in the atrial trabeculae whereas isoprenaline shortened it. All three substances shortened this parameter in the papillary muscles. The developed force and the rate of developed force were increased by all three substances. In addition, the total twitch duration was decreased.

Changes in 42K efflux produced by alterations in transmembrane calcium movements in turtle cardiac pace-maker tissue

1. 42K efflux has been measured from small strips of turtle sinus venosus which were electrically paced. Three different procedures for altering transmembrane calcium influx have been utilized to test whether changes in 42K efflux may be modulated by changes in intracellular calcium levels. 2. No significant changes in the 42K fractional escape rate (FER) were observed when external calcium was reduced to O mM or increased to 4 x normal (10 mM). In these experiments extracellular divalent cation concentration was held constant by adding or removing magnesium ions. 3. Application of 10 mM-Ba2+ also failed to alter 42K FER consistently. In red blood cells and snail neurones addition of barium ions has been shown to reduce significantly the calcium-mediated potassium current. 4. A tenfold increase in pacing rate (0.5-5 Hz) resulted in an augmented 42K FER, but repetition of this rate change in O mM-Ca2+ indicated that this increase in 42K FER was not strongly dependent on the amount of calcium entry. 5. Attempts to load the pace-maker cells with calcium by using the ionophore A23187 (10 micrograms ml . -1 of 2.0 x 10(-5) M) consistently resulted in very large increases in 42K FER. However, this effect (i) was blocked by atropine and (ii) was markedly reduced by pretreating the tissues with hemicholinium, indicating that A23187-induced release of acetylcholine from the endogenous nerve terminals was responsible for the observed increase in 42K FER. 6. In summary, three different experimental tests indicate that the majority of the 42K efflux is not tightly linked to transmembrane calcium movement in sinus venosus pace-maker tissue.

Sialic acid: regulation of electrogenesis in cultured heart cells

Removal of up to 50% of the sialic acid from aggregates of 7-day chick embryo heart cells during incubation in a highly purified preparation of neuraminidase resulted in hyperpolarization of the maximum diastolic potential, reduction in the slope of diastolic depolarization leading to slowing of beating, negative shifts of threshold potential and the voltage at which upstroke velocity was maximal, and an initial increase in the action potential overshoot. These effects were opposite to those induced by phospholipase C, a possible contaminant. The modification of electrical properties by neuraminidase is suggested to result from an enhanced influx of calcium ions that might "screen" or bind specifically to internal negative fixed charges and thereby shift the voltage dependence of conductance and kinetic parameters to more negative potentials. This hypothesis is supported by the results above and by greater uptake of 45Ca following release of sialic acid, augmentation of enzyme-induced changes in elevated Ca2+, and the similarity of effects produced by A23187, and inophore which also increased 45Ca uptake. However, other mechanisms cannot be ruled out at the present time.

Ouabain-resistant hyperpolarization induced by insulin in aggregates of embryonic heart cells

Spheroidal aggregates formed from trypsin-dissociated 14-day embryonic chicken hearts after 48 hr of rotation on a gyratory shaker. Intracellularly recorded resting membrane potentials of aggregates bathed in 1.3 mM K+ balanced salt solution had a mean (+/- SD) of 64 +/- 4 mV. After a stable potential was achieved, addition of 1-100 nM sodium bovine insulin caused a slow hyperpolarization of up to 19 mV after 4-5 min, followed, in some cases, by a further, more rapid, shift to a potential near EK. Equivalent hyperpolarizations were observed when insulin was added in the presence of 10 mM ouabain, indicating that enhanced Na+,K+ pump activity was not responsible for the change in membrane potential. The concentration of insulin that produced half-maximal hyperpolarization (2 nM) corresponded to the association constant of a high-affinity insulin receptor, suggesting that binding to this class of receptors led to the change in membrane potential. Steady-state current-voltage curves from current clamp experiments suggested that insulin produced an increase in slope conductance at potentials near rest by inducing an outward current with an apparent potential negative to -90 mV.

Calcium-activated transient outward current in calf cardiac Purkinje fibres

1. The possibility that the transient outward current of calf cardiac Purkinje fibres depends on intracellular calcium was investigated using a two micro-electrode voltage clamp. 2. Upon removal of Cao and replacement with Sr or Ba, the transient outward current was strongly suppressed. At the same time a large slow inward current was revealed. 3. Partial removal of Cao with replacement by Mg also diminished the transient outward current. The inhibition was not due to voltage shifts in the inactivation curve. 4. The kinetics of the peak transient outward current were compared with the kinetics of peak twitch force, an approximate measure of the level of Cai. The two signals were related in a linear manner during beat-dependent changes with trains of voltage clamp depolarizations. 5. Tension and transient outward current were also found to inactivate with a similar dependence on pre-potential and recover from inactivation along a similar time course. Both processes activated with membrane depolarization in a similar manner. 6. Intracellular injection of EGTA reduced the magnitude of the transient outward current and the twitch contraction. 7. The inhibition of outward current following EGTA injection was more pronounced for strong depolarizations. With pulses negative to - 10 mV, there was often little apparent change in the peak net outward current. 8. All lines of evidence support the hypothesis that the transient outward current is activated by intracellular Ca. 9. The functional significance of the transient outward current is discussed. Since a Ca-activated outward current would automatically offset slow inward Ca current, such a system may help prevent arrhythmogenic slow responses in the His-Purkinje network.

Dextro-phenylalanine inhibits potassium-evoked 3H-noradrenaline release from hypothalamus but not of 3H-dopamine from rat caudate nucleus

Action of dextro-phenylalanine (d-Phe) on catecholamine release elicited by K+20 mM has been studied in isolated slices of rat central nervous system (CNS). d-Phe (3 x 10(-3)M) produced inhibition of the fractional release of 3H-noradrenaline but not of 3H-dopamine. The mentioned effect is Ca2+ dependent and was antagonized when this ion was incremented to 2.6 mM in the medium or in the presence of ionophore A-23187 (4 x 10(-5)M). Neither acetylsalicylic acid nor indomethacin (prostaglandin biosynthesis inhibitors) interferes with the effect of d-Phe, showing that by itself it would not reach through the prostaglandin pathway. d-Phe modified neither the noradrenaline neuronal uptake nor its metabolism at the CNS. The findings suggest that d-Phe acts through a Ca2+-dependent mechanism, possibly by specific receptors and in parallel with feedback circuits that involve alpha-adrenoceptors, muscarinic receptors, or prostaglandins.

An analysis of the effect of the rate of stimulation and adrenaline on the duration of the cardiac action potential

1. Changes of action potential duration in cat papillary muscle have been correlated with changes of peak tension. It has been assumed that peak tension is an approximate indicator of [Ca2+]i. 2. When stimulation is commenced after a rest of several minutes, or after a decrease or increase of the stimulus rate, or after rest periods of different duration the changes of action potential duration are closely related to changes of peak tension. These results suggest that [Ca2+]i is of primary importance in determining rate-dependent changes of action potential duration, including the shortening of the action potential at high rates of stimulation. 3. The results also indicate the presence of a factor which tends to prolong the action potential at high rates of stimulation. Thus the duration of the action potential at high stimulus rates is longer than at lower rates when measured at a given value of peak tension. Furthermore in low Ca2+ there can be a prolongation of the steady state action potential at high rates. Comparison with the work of Cohen et al. (1976) suggests that this factor is responsible for the polarity of the T-wave of the ECG. 4. The action of adrenaline on action potential duration has also been analysed. It is shown to have two effects--a prolonging effect probably related to the adrenaline induced increase of Isi, and a shortening effect probably related to an increase of [Ca2+]i (as judged by the increase of peak tension).

Electrogenic hyperpolarization in canine cardiac Purkinje fibres exposed to calcium ionophores

The Ca ionophores markedly enhance the increase of intracellular Ca occurring during Na-free perfusion and the hyperpolarization observed upon Na readmission may be due to rapid restoration of intracellular Na and resultant stimulation of both electrogenic sodium and calcium efflux.