Akitoshi Miyamoto

Receptor-Selective Diffusion Barrier Enhances Sensitivity of Astrocytic Processes to Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Stimulation

An mGluR5-selective diffusion barrier enriches mGluR5 in astrocytic processes, enabling compartmentalized calcium signaling. Keeping Calcium Signals in the Processes Although astrocytes, the most numerous form of glial cell in the brain, are electrically inexcitable, their ability to release chemical messengers and respond to such messengers with propagated calcium signals allows them to participate actively in the regulation of local blood flow and of synaptic efficacy. Here, Arizono et al. expressed a genetically encoded calcium indicator in neuron-astrocyte cocultures and hippocampal slices and found that, compared to the soma, astrocyte processes showed enhanced calcium responses to stimulation of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). The enhanced calcium response observed in processes resulted from an increased density of mGluRs, rather than from differences in the distribution or sensitivity of the calcium release machinery. Analysis of the movement of single mGluR5s revealed a membrane barrier that selectively blocked the movement of mGluR5 between astrocyte somata and their processes. Noting that various neurological disorders are associated with abnormal calcium signaling in astrocytes, the authors speculate that the existence of this barrier—and thereby of compartmentalized calcium signals—could allow individual processes to regulate associated partners (synapses or blood vessels) independently, in the absence of a somatic calcium signal. Metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)–dependent calcium ion (Ca2+) signaling in astrocytic processes regulates synaptic transmission and local blood flow essential for brain function. However, because of difficulties in imaging astrocytic processes, the subcellular spatial organization of mGluR-dependent Ca2+ signaling is not well characterized and its regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Using genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators, we showed that despite global stimulation by an mGluR agonist, astrocyte processes intrinsically exhibited a marked enrichment of Ca2+ responses. Immunocytochemistry indicated that these polarized Ca2+ responses could be attributed to increased density of surface mGluR5 on processes relative to the soma. Single-particle tracking of surface mGluR5 dynamics revealed a membrane barrier that blocked the movement of mGluR5 between the processes and the soma. Overexpression of mGluR or expression of its carboxyl terminus enabled diffusion of mGluR5 between the soma and the processes, disrupting the polarization of mGluR5 and of mGluR-dependent Ca2+ signaling. Together, our results demonstrate an mGluR5-selective diffusion barrier between processes and soma that compartmentalized mGluR Ca2+ signaling in astrocytes and may allow control of synaptic and vascular activity in specific subcellular domains.

Bidirectional Control of Synaptic GABAAR Clustering by Glutamate and Calcium

Summary GABAergic synaptic transmission regulates brain function by establishing the appropriate excitation-inhibition (E/I) balance in neural circuits. The structure and function of GABAergic synapses are sensitive to destabilization by impinging neurotransmitters. However, signaling mechanisms that promote the restorative homeostatic stabilization of GABAergic synapses remain unknown. Here, by quantum dot single-particle tracking, we characterize a signaling pathway that promotes the stability of GABAA receptor (GABAAR) postsynaptic organization. Slow metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling activates IP3 receptor-dependent calcium release and protein kinase C to promote GABAAR clustering and GABAergic transmission. This GABAAR stabilization pathway counteracts the rapid cluster dispersion caused by glutamate-driven NMDA receptor-dependent calcium influx and calcineurin dephosphorylation, including in conditions of pathological glutamate toxicity. These findings show that glutamate activates distinct receptors and spatiotemporal patterns of calcium signaling for opposing control of GABAergic synapses.

Mechanistic basis of bell-shaped dependence of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor gating on cytosolic calcium

The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor (IP3R) is an intracellular Ca2+ release channel, and its opening is controlled by IP3 and Ca2+. A single IP3 binding site and multiple Ca2+ binding sites exist on single subunits, but the precise nature of the interplay between these two ligands in regulating biphasic dependence of channel activity on cytosolic Ca2+ is unknown. In this study, we visualized conformational changes in IP3R evoked by various concentrations of ligands by using the FRET between two fluorescent proteins fused to the N terminus of individual subunits. IP3 and Ca2+ have opposite effects on the FRET signal change, but the combined effect of these ligands is not a simple summative response. The bell-shaped Ca2+ dependence of FRET efficiency was observed after the subtraction of the component corresponding to the FRET change evoked by Ca2+ alone from the FRET changes evoked by both ligands together. A mutant IP3R containing a single amino acid substitution at K508, which is critical for IP3 binding, did not exhibit this bell-shaped Ca2+ dependence of the subtracted FRET efficiency. Mutation at E2100, which is known as a Ca2+ sensor, resulted in ∼10-fold reduction in the Ca2+ dependence of the subtracted signal. These results suggest that the subtracted FRET signal reflects IP3R activity. We propose a five-state model, which implements a dual-ligand competition response without complex allosteric regulation of Ca2+ binding affinity, as the mechanism underlying the IP3-dependent regulation of the bell-shaped relationship between the IP3R activity and cytosolic Ca2+.

Redox-assisted regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum by disulfide reductase ERdj5

Significance Ca2+ is one of the most important second messengers regulating numerous cellular functions; therefore, the regulation of Ca2+ release from and its uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are both critical for calcium signaling. The activity of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase isoform 2b (SERCA2b), a calcium pump on the ER membrane, was reported to be negatively regulated by the oxidation of two cysteines in its ER-luminal portion, and it is expected to be activated by its reduction. However, no molecules responsible for this reduction have been identified. Here, we showed for the first time that ERdj5, the reductase in the ER of mammalian cells, activates SERCA2b by reducing its disulfide bonds in a [Ca2+]ER-dependent manner. Calcium ion (Ca2+) is an important second messenger that regulates numerous cellular functions. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) is strictly controlled by Ca2+ channels and pumps on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and plasma membranes. The ER calcium pump, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA), imports Ca2+ from the cytosol into the ER in an ATPase activity-dependent manner. The activity of SERCA2b, the ubiquitous isoform of SERCA, is negatively regulated by disulfide bond formation between two luminal cysteines. Here, we show that ERdj5, a mammalian ER disulfide reductase, which we reported to be involved in the ER-associated degradation of misfolded proteins, activates the pump function of SERCA2b by reducing its luminal disulfide bond. Notably, ERdj5 activated SERCA2b at a lower ER luminal [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]ER), whereas a higher [Ca2+]ER induced ERdj5 to form oligomers that were no longer able to interact with the pump, suggesting [Ca2+]ER-dependent regulation. Binding Ig protein, an ER-resident molecular chaperone, exerted a regulatory role in the oligomerization by binding to the J domain of ERdj5. These results identify ERdj5 as one of the master regulators of ER calcium homeostasis and thus shed light on the importance of cross talk among redox, Ca2+, and protein homeostasis in the ER.

Apoptosis induction-related cytosolic calcium responses revealed by the dual FRET imaging of calcium signals and caspase-3 activation in a single cell.

Stimulus-induced changes in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration control cell fate decision, including apoptosis. However, the precise patterns of the cytosolic Ca(2+) signals that are associated with apoptotic induction remain unknown. We have developed a novel genetically encoded sensor of activated caspase-3 that can be applied in combination with a genetically encoded sensor of the Ca(2+) concentration and have established a dual imaging system that enables the imaging of both cytosolic Ca(2+) signals and caspase-3 activation, which is an indicator of apoptosis, in the same cell. Using this system, we identified differences in the cytosolic Ca(2+) signals of apoptotic and surviving DT40 B lymphocytes after B cell receptor (BCR) stimulation. In surviving cells, BCR stimulation evoked larger initial Ca(2+) spikes followed by a larger sustained elevation of the Ca(2+) concentration than those in apoptotic cells; BCR stimulation also resulted in repetitive transient Ca(2+) spikes, which were mediated by the influx of Ca(2+) from the extracellular space. Our results indicate that the observation of both Ca(2+) signals and cells fate in same cell is crucial to gain an accurate understanding of the function of intracellular Ca(2+) signals in apoptotic induction.

Optimal microscopic systems for long-term imaging of intracellular calcium using a ratiometric genetically-encoded calcium indicator.

Monitoring the pattern of intracellular Ca(2+) signals that control many diverse cellular processes is essential for understanding regulatory mechanisms of cellular functions. Various genetically encoded Ca(2+) indicators (GECIs) are used for monitoring intracellular Ca(2+) changes under several types of microscope systems. However, it has not yet been explored which microscopic system is ideal for long-term imaging of the spatiotemporal patterns of Ca(2+) signals using GECIs. We here compared the Ca(2+) signals reported by a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based ratiometric GECI, yellow cameleon 3.60 (YC3.60), stably expressed in DT40 B lymphocytes, using three different imaging systems. These systems included a wide-field fluorescent microscope, a multipoint scanning confocal system, and a single-point scanning confocal system. The degree of photobleaching and the signal-to-noise ratio of YC3.60 in DT40 cells were highly dependent on the fluorescence excitation method, although the total illumination energy was maintained at a constant level within each of the imaging systems. More strikingly, the Ca(2+) responses evoked by B-cell antigen receptor stimulation in YC3.60-expressing DT40 cells were different among the imaging systems, and markedly affected by the illumination power used. Our results suggest that optimization of the imaging system, including illumination and acquisition conditions, is crucial for accurate visualization of intracellular Ca(2+) signals.

Probes for manipulating and monitoring IP3

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) is an important second messenger produced via G-protein-coupled receptor- or receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated pathways. IP3 levels induce Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via IP3 receptor (IP3R) located in the ER membrane. The resultant spatiotemporal pattern of Ca2+ signals regulates diverse cellular functions, including fertilization, gene expression, synaptic plasticity, and cell death. Therefore, monitoring and manipulating IP3 levels is important to elucidate not only the functions of IP3-mediated pathways but also the encoding mechanism of IP3R as a converter of intracellular signals from IP3 to Ca2+.

Mechanistic basis of the bell-shaped dependence of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor gating on cytosolic calcium

O3-J-2-1 Mechanistic basis of the bell-shaped dependence of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor gating on cytosolic calcium Takayuki Michikawa 1,2,3 , Tadashi Shinohara 2, Masahiro Enomoto 2, Jun-Ichi Goto 2, Miwako Iwai 4, Toru Matsu-ura 2, Haruka Yamazaki 2, Akitoshi Miyamoto 2, Akio Suzuki 2, Katsuhiko Mikoshiba 2,3 1 Lab. Mol. Neurogenesis, RIKEN Brain Sci. Inst., Wako, Japan 2 Lab. Dev. Neurobiol., RIKEN Brain Sci. Inst., Wako, Japan 3 Calcium Oscillation Project, ICORP-SORST, JST, Kawaguchi, Japan 4 Div. Mol. Phathol., Inst. Med. Sci., Univ. Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan