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E M Silinsky

Publications and source records attributed to E M Silinsky.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Antagonism of calcium currents and neurotransmitter release by barium ions at frog motor nerve endings.

1. The effects of Ba(2+) (0.1 - 2 mM) on the component of the perineural voltage change associated with nerve terminal calcium currents (prejunctional Ca(2+) currents) were compared with the effects of this ion to antagonize calcium-dependent acetylcholine (ACh) release. These experiments were made on isolated neuromuscular junctions of the frog. 2. In the presence of sufficient concentrations of K(+) channel blockers to eliminate measurable prejunctional K(+) currents, low concentrations of Ba(2+) selectively antagonized prejunctional Ca(2+) currents in normal Ca(2+) solutions. Higher concentrations of Ba(2+) also substantially reduced the Na(+) component of the perineural waveform. 3. Ba(2+) inhibited the prolonged prejunctional Ca(2+) currents that developed in the presence of higher concentrations of K(+) channel blockers. 4. Simultaneous measurements of the prejunctional Ca(2+) currents and the electrophysiological correlates of ACh release (i.e. end-plate potentials, EPPs) were made under conditions of modest K(+) channel blockade. Under these conditions, Ba(2+) generally produced simultaneous decreases in both Ca(2+) currents and EPP amplitudes. In some instances, a prolongation of prejunctional Ca(2+) currents and a transient increase in EPP amplitudes preceded the decreases in both electrophysiological events. 5. These results suggest that Ba(2+) ions can antagonize the entry of calcium into motor nerve endings and this effect is likely to be responsible for the inhibitory effects of Ba(2+) on evoked ACh release.

Acetylcholine↗

The phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase inhibitor phenylarsine oxide blocks evoked neurotransmitter release by reducing calcium entry through N-type calcium channels.

The effects of the phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase inhibitor, phenylarsine oxide (PAO), on acetylcholine (ACh) release and on prejunctional Ca(2+) currents were studied at the frog neuromuscular junction using electrophysiological recording techniques. Application of PAO (30 microM) increased both spontaneous ACh release reflected as miniature end-plate potential (mepp) frequencies and evoked ACh release reflected as end-plate potential (epp) amplitudes with a similar time course. Following the initial increase in epp amplitudes produced by PAO, epps slowly declined and were eventually abolished after approximately 20 min. However, mepp frequencies remained elevated over this time period. PAO (30 microM) also inhibited the perineural voltage change associated with Ca(2+) currents through N-type Ca(2+) channels (prejunctional Ca(2+) currents) at motor nerve endings. Addition of British anti-lewisite (BAL, 1 mM), an inactivator of PAO, partially reversed both the inhibition of epps and the inhibition of the prejunctional Ca(2+) current. The effects of PAO on N-type Ca(2+) channels were investigated more directly using the whole cell patch clamp technique on acutely dissociated sympathetic neurons. Application of PAO (30 - 40 microM) to these neurons decreased the voltage-activated calcium currents through N-type Ca(2+) channels, an effect that was partially reversible by BAL. In combination, these results suggest that inhibition of neurotransmitter release by PAO occurs as a consequence of the inhibition of Ca(2+) entry via N-type calcium channels. The relationship between the effects of PAO on N-type Ca(2+) channels in motor nerve endings and in neuronal soma is discussed.

1-Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase↗

Mutual occlusion of P2X ATP receptors and nicotinic receptors on sympathetic neurons of the guinea-pig.

1. The interaction of ion channels activated by nicotinic receptor agonists with ion channels gated by extracellular ATP (i.e. P2X receptors) was studied on sympathetic neurons acutely dissociated from coeliac ganglia of the guinea-pig. Patch clamp methods were used to measure the inward current generated through these non-selective cationic channels under voltage clamp. 2. At the whole cell level, the specific nicotinic receptor agonists nicotine (5-100 microM) or cytisine (50-75 microM) and the P2X receptor agonists ATP (0.1-7 microM) or alpha,beta-methylene ATP (6 microM) were examined separately and in the presence of the other receptor activator. When a nicotinic and P2X receptor agonist were applied together, mutually occlusive effects were generally observed. This occurred even with concentrations of agonists that in themselves generated little to no inward current. 3. The occlusive effects of nicotinic agonists on ATP-gated currents were blocked by the nicotinic receptor/ion channel blocker hexamethonium (150 microM). The occlusive effects of ATP analogues on inward currents generated by nicotinic agonists were blocked by the P2X receptor antagonist suramin (100 microM). 4. Mutual occlusion of the effects of nicotinic agonists and ATP analogues were also observed when currents through single channels were studied in excised (outside-out) patches. 5. The results suggest that nicotinic receptors and P2X ATP receptors do not act independently in these sympathetic neurons.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Increases in acetylcholine release produced by phorbol esters are not mediated by protein kinase C at motor nerve endings.

Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated that phorbol esters known to stimulate protein kinase C (PKC) also stimulate acetylcholine (ACh) secretion by an action at a strategic component of the secretory apparatus [ J Physiol (Lond) 501:41-48]. In an attempt to determine whether the stimulatory effects of phorbols are mediated by PKC, we examined the effects of several PKC antagonists on ACh release promoted by phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) at the frog neuromuscular junction. PKC antagonists that act at the ATP binding site (C3 domain) were examined for their ability to antagonize the stimulatory action of PDBu. Neither the nonselective PKC inhibitor, staurosporine (at concentrations as high as 1 microM), nor its more selective derivative, GF109203X (at concentrations as high as 10 microM), attenuated the stimulatory effects of PDBu. PKC antagonists that act at the phorbol ester binding site (C1 domain) were examined for their ability to antagonize the stimulatory action of PDBu. Neither sphingosine (500 microM) nor calphostin C (25 microM) reduced the stimulatory actions of PDBu on ACh release. These results suggest that a presynaptic protein possessing a phorbol ester receptor and not the enzyme PKC is the target site for the stimulatory effects of phorbol esters at motor nerve endings.

Acetylcholine↗

Opposing effects of phorbol esters on transmitter release and calcium currents at frog motor nerve endings.

1. Phorbol esters activate protein kinase C (PKC) and also increase the secretion of neurotransmitter substances by an unknown mechanism. To evaluate whether the stimulatory effects of such agents on acetylcholine (ACh) secretion occur as a consequence of stimulation of Ca2+ entry, we made electrophysiological measurements of ACh secretion (i.e. endplate potentials, EPPs) and the component of the prejunctional perineural voltage change associated with nerve terminal calcium currents (perineural calcium current) at frog neuromuscular junctions. 2. In the first series of experiments, modest concentrations of K+ channel blockers were employed so that simultaneous measurements of EPP amplitudes and perineural calcium currents could be made. In these experiments, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA; 162 nM) and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu; 100-200 nM) each increased ACh release but simultaneously decreased the calcium component of the prejunctional perineural current TPA and PDBu also inhibited perineural calcium currents in the presence of higher concentrations of K+ channel blockers. 3. Blockade of Ca2+ channels by Cd2+ prevented the action of PKC stimulators on perineural waveforms. 4. The inactive compound 4-alpha-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (150 nM) did not affect EPP amplitudes or perineural currents. 5. The extracellular [Ca2+]-ACh release relationship was increased in maximum by PDBu without any change in the potency of Ca2+ to support evoked ACh release. 6. The results demonstrate that phorbol esters increase neurotransmitter secretion whilst simultaneously decreasing the nerve ending calcium currents that promote evoked release. The results, which suggest that the optimal control point for secretion might not be the calcium channel but rather a component of the secretory apparatus, are discussed in conjunction with the possible target sites for phorbol esters in the nerve ending.

Acetylcholine↗

Synchronous release of ATP and neurotransmitter within milliseconds of a motor nerve impulse in the frog.

1. It has been suggested that ATP is released together with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and, after hydrolysis to adenosine, is the primary physiological mediator of prejunctional neuromuscular depression. To evaluate whether ATP is released with sufficient rapidity to mediate prejunctional depression, outside-out patches containing both ATP-gated and ACh-gated ion channels were made from acutely dissociated guinea-pig sympathetic neurons and used to detect the co-release of nucleotide and neurotransmitter in frog cutaneous pectoris nerve-muscle preparations. 2. In a normal bathing solution in which muscle nicotinic receptors were blocked, a single stimulus to the motor nerve produced channel openings in the detector patch characteristic of both ATP and ACh. 3. In the remaining experiments, preparations were treated with sufficient hexamethonium (200 microM) to block nicotinic responses in the detector patch. In these experiments, a single temporally isolated nerve impulse caused the synchronous opening of ATP-gated channels in the detector patch with a latency of < 5 ms when patches were placed within 10 microns of the motor nerve ending. This multichannel phasic response was followed by trail of discrete channel openings characteristic of ATP-gated channels. 4. The selective ATP antagonist suramin (50 microM) reversibly eliminated the response to nerve stimulation. 5. The results suggest that ATP is released synchronously together with the neurotransmitter ACh in response to an individual nerve impulse and with a brief latency characteristic of quantal release from synaptic vesicles.

Acetylcholine↗

Neurotransmitter release evoked by nerve impulses without Ca2+ entry through Ca2+ channels in frog motor nerve endings.

1. The requirement for extracellular Ca2+ in the process of evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release by nerve impulses was tested at endplates in frog skeletal muscle. Ca(2+)-containing lipid vesicles (Ca2+ liposomes) were used to elevate cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations under conditions in which Ca2+ entry from the extracellular fluid was prevented. 2. In an extracellular solution containing no added Ca2+ and 1 mM Mg2+ ('Ca(2+)-free' solution), Ca2+ liposomes promoted the synchronous release of ACh quanta, reflected electrophysiologically as endplate potentials (EPPs), in response to temporally isolated nerve impulses. 3. Motor nerve stimulation generated EPPs during superfusion with Ca2+ liposomes in Ca(2+)-free solutions containing the Ca2+ channel blocker Co2+ (1 mM), and the Ca2+ chelator EGTA (2 mM). As a physiological control for Ca2+ leakage from the liposomes to the extracellular fluid, the effect of Ca2+ liposomes on asynchronous evoked ACh release mediated by Ba2+ was examined. In contrast to the effects of 0.2-0.3 mM extracellular Ca2+, which generated EPPs but antagonized Ba(2+)-mediated asynchronous ACh release, Ca2+ liposomes generated EPPs but did not reduce asynchronous release mediated by Ba2+. The effects of Ca2+ liposomes were thus not due to leakage of Ca2+ from the liposome to the extracellular fluid. 4. Morphological studies using fluorescently labelled liposomes in conjunction with a confocal microscope demonstrate that lipid is transferred from the liposomes to nerve endings and liposomal contents are delivered to the nerve terminal cytoplasm. 5. The results suggest that when intracellular Ca2+ is elevated using liposomes as a vehicle, evoked ACh release can occur in the absence of Ca2+ entry via Ca2+ channels.

Acetylcholine↗

On the simultaneous electrophysiological measurements of neurotransmitter release and perineural calcium currents from frog motor nerve endings.

Ca2+ currents from the perineural region of motor nerve endings were measured together with evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release (i.e., end-plate potentials EPPs) in frog skeletal muscle in an attempt to define experimental conditions in which simultaneous measurements of both phenomena were feasible. In a solution containing low Ca2+ (0.9 mM), high Mg2+ (10 mM) and modest concentrations of K+ channel blockers (250 microM tetraethylammonium, 100 microM 3,4,-diaminopyridine), reliable measurements of perineural Ca2+ currents were possible. For convenience, this solution will be termed 'Ca2+ current' Ringer. The mean number of ACh quanta released in Ca2+ current Ringer was near the midpoint of the relationship between extracellular [Ca2+] and evoked ACh release observed previously in normal Ringer solutions. Consequently, ACh release in response to low-frequency motor nerve stimulation (0.05 Hz) was well maintained, allowing simultaneous measurements of Ca2+ currents and evoked ACh release to be made. Ca2+ currents and EPPs measured simultaneously in Ca2+ current Ringer were increased or decreased in parallel by increasing or decreasing the extracellular Ca2+ concentrations. Ca2+ channel blockers (Cd2+, 500 microM; omega-conotoxin, 3 microM) eliminated both EPPs and the Ca2+ component of the perineural current. NaF (10 mM), which stimulates ACh release, produced parallel increases in EPPs and perineural Ca2+ currents. NG-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA), an A1 adenosine receptor agonist, inhibits ACh release without effects on perineural currents. The results suggest that the concurrent electrophysiological recording of Ca2+ currents and ACh release in Ca2+ current Ringer is a reliable experimental approach for determining whether drugs or disease states affect ACh release by acting on Ca2+ channels in the presynaptic membrane.

Animals↗

ATP released together with acetylcholine as the mediator of neuromuscular depression at frog motor nerve endings.

1. The hypothesis that ATP released by presynaptic stimulation is hydrolysed to adenosine and mediates prejunctional neuromuscular depression was tested at vertebrate neuromuscular junctions. Electrophysiological recordings of evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release and perineural ionic currents at motor nerve endings were made using the frog cutaneous pectoris nerve-muscle preparation. Either tubocurarine or alpha-bungarotoxin was used to block muscle contractions. 2. Either alpha,beta-methylene ADP (which inhibits ecto-5'nucleotidases and thus prevents the degradation of ATP to adenosine) or selective adenosine receptor antagonists (8-cyclo-pentyl alkyl xanthines) prevented the inhibitory effects of exogenous ATP on ACh release in response to low-frequency nerve stimulation. These results confirm earlier findings that ATP must be hydrolysed to adenosine to inhibit ACh release. 3. The presence of alpha,beta-methylene ADP completely prevented neuromuscular depression in response to repetitive high-frequency nerve stimulation (0.5-1 Hz). alpha,beta-Methylene ADP had no effect on ACh secretion under conditions where ACh release is well maintained (low-frequency stimulation, 0.05 Hz). 4. Selective adenosine receptor antagonists completely eliminated neuromuscular depression produced by repetitive high-frequency nerve stimulation (1.0 Hz) but had no effect on ACh release at low frequencies of stimulation (0.05 Hz). 5. Exogenous adenosine deaminase (5 i.u. ml-1), which degrades adenosine to its inactive nucleoside inosine, also eliminated neuromuscular depression but had no significant effect on ACh release at frequencies of nerve stimulation too low to produce prejunctional depression. 6. During maximal neuromuscular depression, the effects of exogenous adenosine or 2-chloroadenosine, an adenosine agonist, were occluded. 7. The calcium-sensitive component of perineurial recordings of motor nerve terminal currents did not change during depression or during application of adenosine receptor antagonists and adenosine deaminase, suggesting that neuromuscular depression in this species was not associated with changes in presynaptic Ca2+ currents. 8. These results suggest that, under the conditions of these experiments, endogenous ATP, after hydrolysis to adenosine, causes prejunctional neuromuscular depression. This inhibitory effect of endogenous adenosine occurs at a site distal to the locus of Ca2+ entry in the frog.

Acetylcholine↗

Reduction by intracellular calcium chelation of acetylcholine secretion without occluding the effects of adenosine at frog motor nerve endings.

1. The calcium chelators bis-(aminophenoxy)ethane-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) or dimethyl-BAPTA (DMBAPTA) were introduced into the cytoplasm of frog motor nerve endings by use of the AM loading technique. The effects of intracellular Ca2+ chelation was studied on quantal acetylcholine (ACh) release and on the action of adenosine. 2. Intracellular BAPTA or DMBAPTA prevented the increases in quantal ACh secretion normally evoked by caffeine. 3. Intracellular DMBAPTA decreased the number of ACh quanta released by individual nerve impulses and virtually eliminated the fast phase of facilitation in response to paired nerve impulses. 4. Adenosine reduced both spontaneous and evoked secretion of ACh quanta with its usual potency and efficacy in the presence of intracellular DMBAPTA. Adenosine had no significant effect on facilitation. 5. The results, which suggest that adenosine and intracellular DMBAPTA reduce ACh secretion by different mechanisms, are consistent with the hypothesis that adenosine inhibits ACh release by reducing the ability of Ca2+ to promote ACh secretion from frog motor nerve endings.

Acetylcholine↗

Decrease in calcium currents induced by aminoglycoside antibiotics in frog motor nerve endings.

1. The effects of the aminoglycoside antibiotics, streptomycin, neomycin and gentamicin were examined on perineural currents and evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release at frog motor nerve endings. 2. In the standard solutions used previously to measure Ca2+ currents, streptomycin reduced the peak amplitude of the Ca2+ component of the perineural current. 3. In a solution in which changes in both Ca2+ currents and evoked ACh release can be recorded simultaneously, both Ca2+ currents and evoked ACh release were reduced by aminoglycosides in the potency order neomycin > streptomycin > gentamicin. This potency sequence is similar to that reported previously for these agents as inhibitors of neurally-evoked contractions of mammalian skeletal muscle. 4. These data suggest that the presynaptic inhibitory effects of aminoglycoside antibiotics at the neuromuscular junction occur as a consequence of a reduction in Ca2+ currents in the motor nerve terminal.

Acetylcholine↗

Ionomycin-induced acetylcholine release and its inhibition by adenosine at frog motor nerve endings.

1. Acetylcholine (ACh) evoked secretion by the calcium ionophore, ionomycin, was studied at frog motor nerve endings. 2. Bath application of ionomycin stimulated an irreversible increase in the rate of spontaneous, quantal ACh release in the presence of extracellular Ca2+. In contrast, local application of ionomycin stimulated a rapid, reversible acceleration of spontaneous ACh release. 3. The magnitude of the secretory response to ionomycin was dependent both upon the concentration of ionophore and the concentration of extracellular Ca2+. 4. Adenosine or 2-chloroadenosine inhibited ionomycin-stimulated ACh release with the same potency and efficacy observed previously for these adenosine analogues as inhibitors of ACh secretion evoked by nerve impulses. 5. These results support the conclusion that adenosine receptor activation inhibits quantal ACh secretion at a site distal to that of Ca2+ entry at frog motor nerve endings.

2-Chloroadenosine↗

On the excitatory effects of ATP and its role as a neurotransmitter in coeliac neurons of the guinea-pig.

1. The effects of ATP on neurons from guinea-pig coeliac ganglia were studied to evaluate the possibility that this nucleotide acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter substance. 2. In experiments with intracellular microelectrodes, ATP (> or = 10 nM) depolarized coeliac neurons from the resting potential and produced an increase in the membrane conductance. These excitatory effects of ATP were observed in isolated coeliac ganglia, in acutely dissociated neurons or in cultured neurons. ATP also produced membrane conductance increases in neurons clamped at the resting potential using a single electrode voltage clamp. 3. When studied in the whole-cell configuration of the patch clamp (intracellular Cs+ to block K+ currents; -50 mV holding potential), ATP evoked inward currents in a manner more potent and efficacious than acetylcholine (ACh). 4. Whole-cell currents induced by ATP were inwardly rectifying and reversed at -13 mV in normal Na+ solutions. Changes in extracellular Na+ concentration altered the reversal potential in a manner predicted by the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz bi-ionic equation with a ratio of Na+ to Cs+ permeability (PNa/PCs) = 0.6. 5. Single channel currents were evoked by ATP in excised (outside-out) patches. Current-voltage relationships for single channel currents exhibited inward rectification. The mean single channel conductance was 22 pS at -50 mV. 6. Antagonists of ATP-gated channels (suramin, Reactive Blue 2) reduced the effects of ATP but not ACh. 7. Antagonists at nicotinic receptors/ion channels (hexamethonium or tubocurarine) reduced the effects of ACh but not ATP. 8. Excitatory synaptic currents were observed in cultures of coeliac neurons. Synaptic currents possessed similar current-voltage relationships to currents produced by ATP, were increased in frequency by K+ depolarization in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, and were selectively antagonized by ATP antagonists. 9. Local K+ depolarization of the ends of neurites evoked single channel currents characteristic of ATP in outside-out patches when patches were positioned near the region of apparent synaptic contact but not when patches were positioned at remote regions. 10. The results suggest that ATP receptors are linked to ion channels and mediate excitatory synaptic transmission between coeliac neurons.

Acetylcholine↗

A selective adenosine antagonist (8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine) eliminates both neuromuscular depression and the action of exogenous adenosine by an effect on A1 receptors.

The effect of 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX), a selective A1 adenosine receptor antagonist, was studied at frog motor nerve endings in the hope of determining whether the inhibitory effects of exogenous or endogenous adenosine on neurotransmitter release are mediated by an A1 receptor or the postulated prejunctional "A3 receptor." These putative A3 receptors have been reported to have a lower affinity for DPCPX (>> 1 nM) than A1 receptors (50-190 pM) and have been linked to changes in Ca2+ translocation. The affinity of DPCPX as an antagonist of exogenous adenosine at frog motor nerve endings was calculated by using the Schild equation and found to range from 25 to 200 pM (n = 12). These values are consistent with the presence of A1 receptors. The effect of endogenous adenosine as a mediator of prejunctional neuromuscular depression produced by repetitive nerve impulses was fully reversed by 100 pM DPCPX. Neither prejunctional neuromuscular depression produced by endogenous or exogenous adenosine nor the reversal of depression by DPCPX was associated with changes in nerve terminal Ca2+ currents. The results demonstrate that endogenous or exogenous adenosine mediates neuromuscular depression in the frog, via an A1 receptor.

Acetylcholine↗

ATP mediates excitatory synaptic transmission in mammalian neurones.

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP, 0.1-100 microM), produced inward currents in patch-clamped coeliac neurones from guinea-pig when studied in either the whole cell configuration or in excised (outside-out) patches. The P2-purinoceptor antagonists suramin (80-230 microM) or reactive blue 2 (2-20 microM) depressed the ATP-induced currents but not those produced by acetylcholine. Excitatory post-synaptic currents (e.p.s.cs) were observed in cultured neurones. E.p.s.cs had similar current-voltage relationships to currents evoked by ATP in excised patches and were reduced by suramin or reactive blue 2 to a similar extent as ATP currents. The results suggest that ATP is the excitatory neurotransmitter in cultures of these neurones.

Acetylcholine↗

Calcium currents at motor nerve endings: absence of effects of adenosine receptor agonists in the frog.

1. The effects of adenosine (50 microM) and 2-chloroadenosine (1-25 microM) were studied on Ca2+ currents in frog motor nerve endings. 2. Ca2+ currents associated with the synchronous, neurally evoked release of acetylcholine (ACh) were measured using either perineural or patch recording methods. Tetraethylammonium and/or 3,4-diaminopyridine were employed to block K+ currents. 3. Ca2+ currents were depressed by omega-conotoxin (1.5-2.5 microM), Cd2+ (100 microM-2 mM), Co2+ (500 microM-5 mM) or by a reduction of the extracellular calcium concentration. Such currents were also observed when Sr2+ was substituted for Ca2+. Both ACh release and Ca2+ currents at motor nerve endings have been reported to be insensitive to 1,4-dihydropyridine antagonists in this species. 4. Adenosine receptor agonists did not affect Ca2+ currents at concentrations that produced maximal inhibition of ACh release. 5. The effects of adenosine receptor agonists were examined on asynchronous K(+)-dependent ACh release under conditions in which the Ca2+ concentration gradient is likely to be reversed (Ca(2+)-free Ringer solution containing 1 mM EGTA). ACh release was measured by monitoring the frequency of occurrence of miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs). In Ca(2+)-free solutions containing 1 mM EGTA, high K+ depolarization caused a decrease in MEPP frequency, presumably because it elicits the efflux of Ca2+ from the nerve ending via membrane Ca2+ channels in a reverse Ca2+ gradient. 6. The Ca2+ channel blocker Co2+, which blocks the exit of Ca2+ from the nerve ending, increased the frequency of MEPPs in a concentration-dependent manner in a reverse Ca2+ gradient. 7. Adenosine or 2-chloroadenosine inhibited ACh release in a reverse Ca2+ gradient. 8. The results suggest that blockade of Ca2+ entry is not responsible for the inhibitory effects of adenosine at frog motor nerve endings.

2-Chloroadenosine↗