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Biomedical subjects

H A Lester

Publications and source records attributed to H A Lester.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Photoinduced removal of nifedipine reveals mechanisms of calcium antagonist action on single heart cells.

The currents through voltage-activated calcium channels in heart cell membranes are suppressed by dihydropyridine calcium antagonists such as nifedipine. Nifedipine is photolabile, and the reduction of current amplitude by this drug can be reversed within a few milliseconds after a 1-ms light flash. The blockade by nifedipine and its removal by flashes were studied in isolated myocytes from neonatal rat heart using the whole-cell clamp method. The results suggest that nifedipine interacts with closed, open, and inactivated calcium channels. It is likely that at the normal resting potential of cardiac cells, the suppression of current amplitude arises because nifedipine binds to and stabilizes channels in the resting, closed state. Inhibition is enhanced at depolarized membrane potentials, where interaction with inactivated channels may also become important. Additional block of open channels is suggested when currents are carried by Ba2+ but is not indicated with Ca2+ currents. Numerical simulations reproduce the experimental observations with molecular dissociation constants on the order of 10(-7) M for closed and open channels and 10(-8) M for inactivated channels.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Time course of the increase in the myocardial slow inward current after a photochemically generated concentration jump of intracellular cAMP.

Voltage-clamped atrial trabeculae from bullfrog hearts were exposed to membrane-permeant photolyzable o-nitrobenzyl esters of cAMP and cGMP. UV flashes produced intracellular concentration jumps of cAMP or cGMP. With the cAMP derivative, flashes resulted in an increased slow inward current (Isi), producing a broadened action potential. The Isi reached a maximum 10-30 sec after the flash and decreased over the next 60-300 sec. The first increases were observable within 150 msec; this value is an upper limit imposed by the instrumentation. Responses to flashes lasted longer at higher drug concentrations and in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor papaverine; effects of flashes developed and decreased faster at higher temperature. Although the amplitude of the Isi was increased, its waveform and voltage sensitivity were not affected. Intracellular concentration jumps of cAMP failed to affect the muscarinic K+ conductance. There were no observable effects of cGMP concentration jumps. The data confirm (i) that cAMP regulates the Isi and (ii) that the 5- to 10-sec delay between application of beta-agonists and the onset of positive inotropic effects, observed in previous studies, has been correctly ascribed to events prior to the interaction between cAMP and protein kinase.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

cis-3,3'-Bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (cis-Bis-Q). Purification and properties at acetylcholine receptors of Electrophorus electroplaques.

The cis and trans isomers of the photoisomerizable compound, 3,3'-bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q), were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography using the ion-pair partitioning technique on a reverse-phase column. Solutions of cis-Bis-Q are stable at -20 degrees; at 25 degrees, thermal isomerization proceeds at a rate of 0.65%/day. cis-Bis-Q is less than 1% as potent a nicotinic agonist as the trans configuration. At concentrations of 1.5 microM or less, cis-Bis-Q exerts little or no blockade of the conductances induced by agonists. In voltage-clamped Electrophorus electroplaques exposed to cis-Bis-Q, laser flashes induce cis leads to trans photoisomerizations and increase the agonist-induced current by a factor of 20 within a few milliseconds.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Prostaglandin-stimulated GTP hydrolysis associated with activation of adenylate cyclase in human platelet membranes.

In membranes purified from human blood platelets, basal guanosine triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis is reduced by a factor of approximately 6 by exposure to N-ethylmaleimide (10 mM). This decreased background enables the detection of an additional GTP hydrolysis in the presence of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). The PGE1-stimulated GTPase has several properties correlated with PGE1-stimulated adenylate cyclase in this preparation. The two enzymes have similar dose-response relationships (half-maximal stimulation at 0.1 microM PGE1). Exposure to cholera toxin blocks the PGE1-stimulated GTPase and activates adenylate cyclase. Both enzymes are activated by submicromolar concentrations of GTP, although the Km for the GTPase is about 10 times greater than that for the adenylate cyclase. The data are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that hormone-stimulated adenylate cyclase (i) is activated as a regulatory component binds a molecular of GTP and (ii) is deactivated as this molecule is hydrolyzed.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1982

A photoisomerizable muscarinic antagonist. Studies of binding and of conductance relaxations in frog heart.

These experiments employ the photoisomerizable compound, 3,3'-bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q), to study the response to muscarinic agents in frog myocardium. In homogenates from the heart, trans-Bis-Q blocks the binding of [3H]-N-methylscopolamine to muscarinic receptors. In voltage-clamped atrial trabeculae, trans-Bis-Q blocks the agonist-induced potassium conductance. The equilibrium dose-response curve for carbachol is shifted to the right, suggesting competitive blockade. Both the biochemical and electrophysiological data yield a dissociation constant of 4-5 microM for trans-Bis-Q; the cis configuration is severalfold less potent as a muscarinic blocker. Voltage-clamped preparations were exposed simultaneously to carbachol and Bis-Q and were subjected to appropriately filtered flashes (less than 1 ms duration) from a xenon flashlamp. Trans leads to cis and cis leads to trans photoisomerizations cause small (less than 20%) increases and decreases, respectively, in the agonist-induced current. The relaxation follows an S-shaped time course, including an initial delay or period of zero slope. The entire waveform is described by [1 - exp(-kt)]n. At 23 degrees C, k is approximately 3 s-1 and n is 2. Neither k nor n is affected when: (a) [Bis-Q] is varied between 5 and 100 microM; (b) [carbachol] is varied between 1 and 50 microM; (c) carbachol is replaced by other agonists (muscarine, acetylcholine, or acetyl-beta-methylcholine); or (d) the voltage is varied between the normal resting potential and a depolarization of 80 mV. However, in the range of 13-30 degrees C, k increases with temperature; the Q10 is between 2 and 2.5. In the same range, n does not change significantly. Like other investigators, we conclude that the activation kinetics of the muscarinic K+ conductance are not determined by ligand-receptor binding, but rather by a subsequent sequence of two (or more) steps with a high activation energy.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Functional stoichiometry at the nicotinic receptor. The photon cross section for phase 1 corresponds to two bis-Q molecules per channel.

These experiments examine changes in the agonist-induced conductance that occur when the agonist-receptor complex is perturbed. Voltage-clamped Electrophorus electroplaques are exposed to the photoisomerizable agonist trans-Bis-Q. A 1-microsecond laser flash photoisomerizes some trans-Bis-Q molecules bound to receptors; because the cis configuration is not an agonist, receptor channels close within a few hundred microseconds. This effect is called phase 1. We compare (a) the fraction of channels that close during phase 1 with (b) the fraction of trans-Bis-Q molecules that undergo trans leads to cis photoisomerization. Parameter a is measured as the fractional diminution in voltage-clamp currents during phase 1. Parameter b is measured by changes in the optical spectra of Bis-Q solutions caused by flashes. At low flash intensities, a is twice b, which shows that the channel can be closed by photoisomerizing either of two bound agonist molecules. Conventional dose-response studies with trans-Bis-Q also give a Hill coefficient of two. As a partial control for changes in the photochemistry caused by binding of Bis-Q to receptors, spectral measurements are performed on the photoisomerizable agonist QBr, covalently bound to solubilized acetylcholine receptors from Torpedo. The bound and free agonist molecules have the same photoisomerization properties. These results verify the concept that the open state of the acetylcholine receptor channel is much more likely to be associated with the presence of two bound agonist molecules than with a single such molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

ADP-ribosylation of membrane proteins in cholinergic nerve terminals.

Lysed Torpedo synaptosomes or washed synaptosomal membranes were incubated with [32P]NAD+ and subjected to electrophoresis on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. More than eight membrane proteins were ADP-ribosylated. The most intensely labeled proteins were those of Mr = 62,000 and 82,000. Radiolabeling was more intense in synaptosomes than in other subcellular fractions. Cholera toxin caused ribosylation of additional synaptosomal proteins with Mr = 42,000 and (in some preparations) 49,000. Neither endogenous nor cholera toxin-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation required added guanyl nucleotides. Cholera toxin increased the adenylate cyclase activity of synaptosomal membranes, suggesting that the cholera toxin substrates are regulatory components of adenylate cyclase in these synaptosomes.

Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose↗
PubMed1982

Activation of adenylate cyclase from purified platelet membranes by prostaglandin E1 and its inhibition by L-epinephrine: mechanistic effects.

Activation and inhibition of adenylate cyclase in purified human platelet membranes by hormones and guanyl nucleotides was studied. The rate constant of enzyme activation (kon) was measured using the GTP analog guanylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), and the rate constant of enzyme deactivation (koff) was determined using the guanosine diphosphate analog guanosine 5'-0-(2-thio)-diphosphate (GDP beta S). PGE1 which was found previously (15) to accelerate kon has been found to accelerate also koff, from 0.1 sec-1 (6 min-1) to 0.2 sec-1 (12 min-1). The alpha 2-adrenergic inhibitory hormone 1-epinephrine did not alter kon, whether measured in the absence or presence of GTP, and also did not alter koff, whether measured under basal or PGE1-dependent GTP-ase activity at any concentration of GTP tested. These results suggest that the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor exerts its inhibitory effect on adenylate cyclase by a mechanism which does not involve its direct interaction with the GTP regulatory protein that is associated with the stimulatory hormone. These results support the view that the inhibitor involves the interaction of the inhibitory receptor with a GTP binding unit separate from the one mediating hormonal stimulation. This regulatory unit attenuates the adenylate cyclase activity either by interacting directly with the catalytic moiety or by modulating the interaction of the stimulatory GTP regulatory protein with the catalytic moiety.

Adenylyl Cyclase Inhibitors↗
PubMed1980

A covalently bound photoisomerizable agonist: comparison with reversibly bound agonists at Electrophorus electroplaques.

After disulphide bonds are reduced with dithiothreitol, trans-3- (alpha-bromomethyl)-3'-[alpha- (trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (trans-QBr) alkylates a sulfhydryl group on receptors. The membrane conductance induced by this "tethered agonist" shares many properties with that induced by reversible agonists. Equilibrium conductance increases as the membrane potential is made more negative; the voltage sensitivity resembles that seen with 50 [mu]M carbachol. Voltage- jump relaxations follow an exponential time-course; the rate constants are about twice as large as those seen with 50 muM carbachol and have the same voltage and temperature sensitivity. With reversible agonists, the rate of channel opening increases with the frequency of agonist-receptor collisions: with tethered trans-Qbr, this rate depends only on intramolecular events. In comparison to the conductance induced by reversible agonists, the QBr-induced conductance is at least 10-fold less sensitive to competitive blockade by tubocurarine and roughly as sensitive to "open-channel blockade" bu QX-222. Light-flash experiments with tethered QBr resemble those with the reversible photoisomerizable agonist, 3,3',bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q): the conductance is increased by cis {arrow} trans photoisomerizations and decreased by trans {arrow} cis photoisomerizations. As with Bis-Q, ligh-flash relaxations have the same rate constant as voltage-jump relaxations. Receptors with tethered trans isomer. By comparing the agonist-induced conductance with the cis/tans ratio, we conclude that each channel's activation is determined by the configuration of a single tethered QBr molecule. The QBr-induced conductance shows slow decreases (time constant, several hundred milliseconds), which can be partially reversed by flashes. The similarities suggest that the same rate-limiting step governs the opening and closing of channels for both reversible and tethered agonists. Therefore, this step is probably not the initial encounter between agonist and receptor molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Numerical reconstruction of the quantal event at nicotinic synapses.

To test our present quantitative knowledge of nicotinic transmission, we reconstruct the postsynaptic conductance change that results after a presynaptic nerve terminal liberates a quantum of acetylcholine (ACh) into the synaptic cleft. The theory assumes that ACh appears suddenly in the cleft and that is subsequent fate is determined by radial diffusion, by enzymatic hydrolysis, and by binding to receptors. Each receptor has one channel and two ACh binding sites; the channel opens when both sites are occupied and the rate-limiting step id the binding and dissociation of the second ACh molecule. The calculations reproduce the experimentally measured growth phase (200 microseconds), peak number of open channels (2,000), and exponential decay phase. The time constant of the decay phase exceeds the channel duration by approximately equal to 20%. The normal event is highly localized: at the peak, two-thirds of the open channels are within an area of 0.15 micrometer 2. This represents 75% of the available channels within this area. The model also simulates voltage and temperature dependence and effects of inactivating esterase and receptors. The calculations show that in the absence of esterase, transmitter is buffered by binding to receptors and the postsynaptic response can be potentiated.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1979

The kinetics of tubocurarine action and restricted diffusion within the synaptic cleft.

1. The kinetics of tubocurarine inhibition were studied at the post-synaptic membrane of frog skeletal muscle fibres. Acetylcholine (ACh) and (+)-tubocurarine were ionophoresed from twin-barrel micropipettes, and the membrane potential of the muscle fibre was recorded intracellularly. Tubocurarine-receptor binding was measured by decreases in the response to identical pulses of ACh. 2. The responses to both ACh and tubocurarine had brief latencies and reached their maxima rapidly. It is suggested that under these conditions the kinetics of tubocurarine action are not slowed by diffusion in the space outside the synaptic cleft. 3. After a pulse of tubocurarine, recovery from inhibition proceeds along a roughly exponential time course with a rate constant, 1/tau off approximately equal to 0.5 sec-1. This rate constant does not depend on the maximal level of inhibition and varies only slightly with temperature (Q10 = 1.25). 4. After a sudden maintained increase in tubocurarine release, the ACh responses decrease and eventually reach a new steady-state level. Inhibition develops exponentially with time and the apparent rate constant, 1/tau on, is greater than 1/tau off. When the steady-state inhibition reduces the ACh response to 1/n of its original level, the data are summarized by the relation, 1/tau on = n(1/tau off). 5. When the ACh sensitivity is reduced with cobra toxin, both 1/tau on and 1/tau off increase. Thus, the kinetics of tubocurarine inhibition depend on the density of ACh receptors in the synaptic cleft. 6. After treatment with collagenase, part of the nerve terminal is displaced and the post-synaptic membrane is exposed directly to the external solution. Under these circumstances, 1/tau off increases more than tenfold. 7. Bath-applied tubocurarine competitively inhibits the responses to brief ionophoretic ACh pulses with an apparent equilibrium dissociation constant, K = 0.5 microM. 8. In denervated frog muscle fibres, extrasynaptic receptors have a lower apparent affinity for tubocurarine. After a pulse of tubocurarine, inhibition decays tenfold more rapidly at these extrasynaptic sites than at the synapse. 9. It is suggested that each tubocurarine molecule binds repeatedly to several ACh receptors before escaping from the synaptic from the synaptic cleft and that the probability of this repetitive binding is enhanced because the nerve terminal presents a physical barrier to diffusion out of the cleft. Consequently, the receptor transiently buffer the concentration of tubocurarine in the cleft, and the macroscopic kinetics of inhibition are much slower than the molecular binding rates for tubocurarine.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1978

Response of acetylcholine receptors to photoisomerizations of bound agonist molecules.

In these experiments, agonist-induced conductance is measured while a sudden perturbation is produced at the agonist-receptor binding site. A voltage-clamped Electrophorus electroplaque is exposed to trans-Bis-Q, a potent agonist. Some channels are open; these receptors have bound agonist molecules. A light flash isomerizes 3(-35)% of the trans-Bis-Q molecules to their cis form, a far poorer agonist. This causes a rapid decrease of membrane conductance (phase 1), followed by a slower increase (phase 2). Phase 1 has the amplitude and wavelength dependence expected if the channel closes within 100 mus after a single bound trans-Bis-Q is isomerized, and if the photochemistry of bound Bis-Q resembles that in solution. Therefore, the receptor channel responds rapidly, and with a hundred-fold greater closing rate, after this change in the structure of a bound ligand. Phase 2 (the conductance increase) seems to represent the relaxation back toward equilibrium after phase 1, because (a) phase 2 has the same time constant (1(-5) ms) as a voltage- or concentration-jump relaxation under identical conditions; and (b) phase 2 is smaller if the flash has led to a net decrease in (trans-Bis-Q). Still slower signals follow: phase 3, a decrease of conductance (time constant 5(-10 ms); and phase 4, an equal and opposite increase (several seconds). Phase 3 is abolished by curare and does not depend on the history of the membrane voltage. We consider several mechanisms for phases 3 and 4.

Animals↗