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D Bertrand

Publications and source records attributed to D Bertrand.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Stable expression and pharmacological properties of the human alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The alpha 7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype forms a Ca(2+)-permeable homooligomeric ion channel sensitive to alpha-bungarotoxin in Xenopus oocytes. In this study, we have stably and functionally expressed the human alpha 7 cDNA in a mammalian cell line, HEK-293 and examined its pharmacologic properties. [125I] alpha-Bungarotoxin bound to transfected cells with a Kd value of 0.7 nM and a Bmax value of 973 pmoL/mg protein. No specific binding was detected in untransfected cells. Specific binding could be displaced by unlabeled alpha-bungarotoxin (Ki = 0.5 nM) and an excellent correlation was observed between binding affinities of a series of nicotinic cholinergic ligands in transfected cells and those in the human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cell line. Additionally, cell surface expression of alpha 7 receptors was detected by fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated alpha-bungarotoxin in transfected cells. Whole cell currents sensitive to blockade by alpha-bungarotoxin, and with fast kinetics of activation and inactivation, were recorded from transfected cells upon rapid application of (-)-nicotine or acetylcholine with EC50 values of 49 microM and 155 microM respectively. We conclude that the human alpha 7 subunit when expressed alone can form functional ion channels and that the stably transfected HEK-293 cell line serves as a unique system for studying human alpha 7 nicotinic receptor function and regulation, and for examining ligand interactions.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1995

Inward rectification of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors investigated by using the homomeric alpha 7 receptor.

The strong inward rectification observed in neuronal nicotinic ACh receptors was examined by using alpha-bungarotoxin sensitive, homomeric alpha 7 neuronal nicotinic ACh receptors derived from chick brain. Receptors were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and functionally assessed by the two electrode voltage clamp technique. Site directed mutagenesis of residues thought to line the putative ion pore revealed that negatively charged glutamate residues located at the inner mouth of the channel are essential for rectification. This finding was confirmed both for the active open state and for receptors mutated to conduct in one of the desensitized states. No outward tail relaxations were observed with voltage jumps to depolarizing potentials, suggesting that rectification was not due to intrinsic gating. For the wild type receptor, intracellular injection of CDTA, a chelating agent having a high affinity for Mg2+, reduced rectification in a dose dependent manner, suggesting that rectification originates, in part, from open channel block by internal free Mg2+. These findings support the hypothesis that charged residues at the inner mouth of the pore influence the Mg2+ affinity of the blocking site.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Identification of a new component of the agonist binding site of the nicotinic alpha 7 homooligomeric receptor.

Tryptophan 54 of the alpha 7 neuronal nicotinic homooligomeric receptor is homologous to gamma-Trp-55 and delta-Trp-57 of non-alpha subunits of Torpedo receptor labeled by d-tubocurarine. This residue was mutated on the alpha 7-V201-5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT)3 homooligomeric chimera, which displays alpha 7 nicotinic pharmacology, and for which both equilibrium binding studies and electrophysiological recordings could be carried out in parallel. Replacement of Trp-54 by a Phe, Ala, or His causes a progressive decrease both in binding affinity and in responses (EC50 or IC50) for acetylcholine, nicotine, and dihydro-beta-erythroidine, without significant modification in alpha-Bgtx binding. Except for Gln-56, comparatively small effects are observed when the other residues of the 52-58 region are mutated into alanine. These data support the participation of Trp-54 to ligand binding, and provide evidence for a new "complementary component" of the alpha 7 nicotinic binding site, distinct from its three-loop "principal component," and homologous to the "non-alpha component" present on gamma and delta subunits.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Functional expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing rat alpha 7 subunits in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) are made from different combinations of subunits encoded by a diverse family of genes. However, the recently cloned alpha 7 gene codes for subunits that can form homooligomeric nAChR complexes when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Electrophysiological studies reveal that these alpha 7-nAChR function as alpha-bungarotoxin (Bgt)-sensitive, quickly activating/inactivating ion channels with a unique pharmacological profile and an unusually high permeability to calcium ions. Although similar observations have been made in studies of Bgt-sensitive, functional nAChR subtypes that are naturally expressed in neuronal cells, all attempts until now to reconstitute functional alpha 7-nAChR in cell lines have failed. Here we report the successful use of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, which naturally express low levels of endogenous alpha 7 transcripts, to stably overexpress heterologous rat nAChR alpha 7 transgenes. These transgenes are expressed as the appropriately-sized alpha 7 messages and protein, and stably transfected SH-SY5Y cells have over 30-times higher levels of specific Bgt binding sites than do wild-type cells. Whole cell current recordings confirm that transfected cells express functional nAChR that are sensitive to blockade by Bgt and display the typical physiological and pharmacological profiles of alpha 7-nAChR. We conclude that stable, functional expression of alpha 7 transgenes in a mammalian cell line has been achieved for the first time.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Pharmacology and biophysical properties of alpha 7 and alpha 7-alpha 8 alpha-bungarotoxin receptor subtypes immunopurified from the chick optic lobe.

Two chick optic lobe alpha-bungarotoxin receptor subtypes (alpha 7 and alpha 7-alpha 8) were immunopurified using polyclonal antibodies raised against synthetic peptides of chick alpha 7 and alpha 8 alpha-bungarotoxin receptor subunits. The alpha 7 subtype contained the M(r) 57,000 alpha 7 subunit, and represented 60-70% of the alpha-bungarotoxin receptors; the alpha 7-alpha 8 subtype contained the M(r) 57,000 alpha 7 and alpha 8 subunits, and represented only 20-25% of the receptors. Both subtypes also had an additional M(r) 52,000 subunit. The affinity of these subtypes for alpha-bungarotoxin as well as antagonists was similar. However, the alpha 7-alpha 8 subtype displayed consistently higher affinities for agonists. When reconstituted in planar lipid bilayers, the alpha 7-alpha 8 subtype displayed several conductance states of 10-50 pS; the alpha 7 subtype had only one conductance state of 45 pS. The alpha 7-alpha 8 subtype was activated by lower agonist concentrations than the alpha 7 subtype. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, the alpha 8 subunit formed functional homomeric receptors that desensitized rapidly. These channels were blocked by alpha-bungarotoxin and displayed a higher affinity for agonists than the alpha 7 homomeric receptor. Taken together, these data indicate that at least two alpha-bungarotoxin subtypes are present in the chick optic lobe. They operate as ligand-gated channels and display different agonist sensitivities and kinetics/conductance properties.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Physiological properties of neuronal nicotinic receptors reconstituted from the vertebrate beta 2 subunit and Drosophila alpha subunits.

Three cDNAs (ALS, D alpha 2 and ARD) isolated from the nervous system of Drosophila and encoding putative nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits were expressed in Xenopus oocytes in order to study their functional properties. Functional receptors could not be reconstituted from any of these subunits taken singly or in twos and threes. In contrast, large evoked currents (in the microA range) were consistently observed upon agonist application on oocytes co-injected with ALS or D alpha 2 in combination with the chick beta 2 structural subunit. The ALS/beta 2 and D alpha 2/beta 2 receptors are highly sensitive to acetylcholine and nicotine, and their physiological properties resemble those of native or reconstituted receptors from vertebrates. Although the physiological properties of ALS/beta 2 and D alpha 2/beta 2 receptors are quite similar, clear differences appear in their pharmacological profiles. The ALS/beta 2 receptor is highly sensitive to alpha-bungarotoxin while the D alpha 2/beta 2 receptor is totally insensitive to this agent. These results demonstrate that the Drosophila ALS and D alpha 2 cDNAs encode neuronal nicotinic subunits responding to physiological concentrations of the agonists acetylcholine and nicotine.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Conformation changes of beta-lactoglobulin: an ATR infrared spectroscopic study of the effect of pH and ethanol.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the secondary structural changes of beta-lactoglobulin in water/ethanol mixtures. The studies were carried out at two different pHs and at high protein concentrations. The spectra were recorded using an attenuated total reflection cell. The amide I band of beta-lactoglobulin in water reveals large amounts of intra extended beta-sheet structure. About 20% ethanol, beta-lactoglobulin unfolds and beta-strand formation is observed. alpha-Helices are built up by increasing the ethanol concentration up to 30%. In 50% ethanol, beta-lactoglobulin gels providing the apparent pH are neutral. The secondary structural changes of beta-lactoglobulin were observed on the similarity maps obtained by Principal Component Analysis.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Physiologically silent sodium channels in mammalian outer hair cells.

1. Voltage-dependent properties of isolated guinea pig outer hair cells (OHCs) were investigated using whole-cell recording. An inward current was detected in approximately 10% of the cells. This inward current was identified as belonging to the voltage-activated sodium current family on the basis of its high sensitivity to tetrodotoxin and the effect of substitution of impermeant ions. Although this is the first report of a sodium current in the mammalian cochlea, it differs from the classical neuronal sodium current by having a variable magnitude from cell to cell and an inactivation that is shifted to hyperpolarized potentials. The sensory processing role of hair cells in general and outer hair cells in particular could be disrupted by the presence of a regenerative voltage-dependent current. The functional role of the OHC sodium channels is puzzling, particularly as they may be silent in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Agonist and antagonist effects of nicotine on chick neuronal nicotinic receptors are defined by alpha and beta subunits.

1. Functional neuronal nicotinic receptors were reconstituted in Xenopus oocytes by the nuclear injection of different combinations of chick and rat cDNAs encoding alpha and beta subunits. The pharmacology of these nicotinic receptors was investigated using two-electrode voltage clamp. 2. The sensitivity of the chick alpha 3/beta 2, alpha 3/beta 4, and alpha 4/beta 2 receptors to acetylcholine (ACh) and neuronal bungarotoxin differed markedly, indicating that both subunits contribute to the pharmacological properties of the receptors. 3. Nicotine acted as an agonist on the chick alpha 3/beta 4 and alpha 4/beta 2 receptors and rat alpha 3/beta 2 receptor. In contrast, nicotine (at concentrations > 3 microM) was only a weak partial agonist of the chick alpha 3/beta 2 receptor. Moreover, nicotine coapplied with 3 microM ACh on the chick alpha 3/beta 2 receptor acted as a potent competitive antagonist, with an IC50 of 0.43 microM. No antagonist effect of nicotine could be revealed on the other nicotinic receptors. 4. The effect of nicotine was tested on hybrid receptors obtained by coinjection of chick and rat cDNAs encoding the alpha 3 and beta 2 subunits (yielding the rat alpha 3/chick beta 2 and chick alpha 3/rat beta 2 receptors). Nicotine (10 microM) strongly inhibited both hybrid receptors. 5. Chimeric subunits were constructed by exchanging a segment located in the extracellular N-termini of chick alpha 3 and alpha 4 subunits and chick alpha 3 and rat alpha 3 subunits. These subunits were coexpressed in oocytes with chick or rat beta 2 subunits. The effect of nicotine on these receptors pointed to the importance of a 15 amino acid stretch located 3' of the first transmembrane segment in the determination of the agonist and antagonist action of nicotine. 6. Within this 15 amino acid segment, a single residue differs in chick and rat alpha 3 subunits, at position 198, within the ligand binding site of alpha subunits. Gln198 of the rat alpha 3 subunit was replaced by Thr as found in the chick alpha 3 subunit, using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant subunit was coexpressed with the rat beta 2 subunit, yielding receptors which were inhibited by nicotine. 7. It is concluded that both alpha and beta subunits not only alter considerably the sensitivity of the nicotinic receptor to agonists and antagonists, but also can turn an agonist into a potent antagonist of one receptor subtype.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1993

Chimaeric nicotinic-serotonergic receptor combines distinct ligand binding and channel specificities.

The neuronal nicotinic alpha 7 (nAChR) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT3) receptors are ligand-gated ion channels with a homologous topological organization and have activation and desensitization reactions in common. Yet these homo-oligomeric receptors differ in the pharmacology of their binding sites for agonists and competitive antagonists, and in their sensitivity to Ca2+ ions. The alpha 7 channel is highly permeable to Ca2+ ions and external Ca2+ ions potentiate, in an allosteric manner, the permeability response to acetylcholine, as shown for other neuronal nAChRs. The 5HT3 channel, in contrast, is not permeable to Ca2+ ions, but blocked by them. To assign these properties to delimited domains of the primary structure, we constructed several recombinant chimaeric alpha 7-5HT3 receptors. We report here that one of the constructs expresses a functional receptor that contains the serotonergic channel still blocked by Ca2+ ions, but is activated by nicotinic ligands and potentiated by external Ca2+ ions.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1993

Mutations at two distinct sites within the channel domain M2 alter calcium permeability of neuronal alpha 7 nicotinic receptor.

The relative permeability for sodium, potassium, and calcium of chicken alpha 7 neuronal nicotinic receptor was investigated by mutagenesis of the channel domain M2. Mutations in the "intermediate ring" of negatively charged residues, located at the cytoplasmic end of M2 (site 1), reduce calcium permeability without significantly modifying other functional properties (activation and desensitization) of the receptor; a similar change of ion selectivity is also noticed when mutations at site 1 are done in the context of a receptor mutant that conducts ions in a desensitized state. Moreover, mutations of two adjacent rings of leucines at the synaptic end of M2 (site 2) have multiple effects. They abolish calcium permeability, increase the apparent affinity for acetylcholine by 10- to 100-fold, augment Hill numbers (up to 4.6-5.0) of acetylcholine dose-response relationships, slow rates of ionic response onset, and lower the extent of desensitization. Mutations at these two topographically distinct sites within M2 selectively alter calcium transport without affecting the relative permeabilities for sodium and potassium.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1993

Stratification of the channel domain in neurotransmitter receptors.

Analyses of the ionic pore of ligand-gated ion channels at the amino acid level reveal a structural and functional stratification of the M2 channel domain. Mutations in the equatorial and outer regions affect channel gating, whereas mutations of other amino acid rings alter ionic permeability or selectivity.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Pharmacological properties of the homomeric alpha 7 receptor.

The pharmacological properties of the alpha-bungarotoxin sensitive alpha 7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) were studied upon reconstitution in Xenopus oocytes. Channels formed by alpha 7 are about 10-fold more sensitive to nicotine and cytisine than to ACh but are little, if at all, activated by the ganglionic agonist 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP). Tubocurarine (TC) was found to act as a non-competitive inhibitor, whereas dihydro-beta-erythroidine (DH beta E) behaves as a pure competitive inhibitor whose blockade is fast and fully reversible. In addition, the alpha 7 receptor displays a poor sensitivity to methonium salts. The pharmacological properties of the alpha 7 channels are readily distinguishable from those of other identified neuronal nicotinic receptors.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1992

Progesterone modulates a neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The major brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is assembled from two subunits termed alpha 4 and n alpha 1. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, these subunits reconstitute a functional acetylcholine receptor that is inhibited by progesterone levels similar to those found in serum. In this report, we show that the steroid interacts with a site located on the extracellular part of the protein, thus confirming that inhibition by progesterone is not due to a nonspecific perturbation of the membrane bilayer or to the activation of second messengers. Because inhibition by progesterone does not require the presence of agonist, is voltage-independent, and does not alter receptor desensitization, we conclude that the steroid is not an open channel blocker. In addition, we show that progesterone is not a competitive inhibitor but may interact with the acetylcholine binding site and that its effect is independent of the ionic permeability of the receptor.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1992

Mutations in the channel domain of a neuronal nicotinic receptor convert ion selectivity from cationic to anionic.

Introduction by site-directed mutagenesis of three amino acids from the MII segment of glycine or gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptors into the MII segment of alpha 7 nicotinic receptor was sufficient to convert a cation-selective channel into an anion-selective channel gated by acetylcholine. A critical mutation was the insertion of an uncharged residue at the amino-terminal end of MII, stressing the importance of protein geometrical constraints on ion selectivity.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1992

Molecular cloning, functional expression and pharmacological characterization of a human bradykinin B2 receptor gene.

The gene encoding a putative G protein-coupled receptor (HG10) was cloned from human genomic DNA by low stringency PCR and found to be homologous to the recently described rat bradykinin B2 receptor. The receptor was expressed in xenopus oocytes and stably transfected CHO cell lines. Binding studies demonstrated that HG10 encodes a high affinity BK receptor with an apparent Kd of 150 pM. Displacement by BK agonists and antagonists allowed the characterization of the receptor as a B2 subtype. Functional coupling to the Ca(2+)-phosphatidylinositol cascade was demonstrated in transfected CHO cells where inositol phosphates accumulation and intracellular calcium concentration were elevated in response to BK stimulation. The agonistic and antagonistic properties of BK analogs do not match strictly the pharmacological profile described for the rat or guinea pig B2 receptor subtypes or the putative B3 subtype. This discrepancy is attributed either to species variability or to differences in the coupling efficiency of receptors to the transduction cascade in different cell types. From our results, the existence of B3 receptors and of B2 subtypes appears questionable.

Amino Acid Sequence↗