José Luis Liberona

Dihydropyridine Receptors as Voltage Sensors for a Depolarization-evoked, IP3R-mediated, Slow Calcium Signal in Skeletal Muscle Cells

The dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), normally a voltage-dependent calcium channel, functions in skeletal muscle essentially as a voltage sensor, triggering intracellular calcium release for excitation-contraction coupling. In addition to this fast calcium release, via ryanodine receptor (RYR) channels, depolarization of skeletal myotubes evokes slow calcium waves, unrelated to contraction, that involve the cell nucleus (Jaimovich, E., R. Reyes, J.L. Liberona, and J.A. Powell. 2000. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 278:C998–C1010). We tested the hypothesis that DHPR may also be the voltage sensor for these slow calcium signals. In cultures of primary rat myotubes, 10 μM nifedipine (a DHPR inhibitor) completely blocked the slow calcium (fluo-3-fluorescence) transient after 47 mM K+ depolarization and only partially reduced the fast Ca2+ signal. Dysgenic myotubes from the GLT cell line, which do not express the α1 subunit of the DHPR, did not show either type of calcium transient following depolarization. After transfection of the α1 DNA into the GLT cells, K+ depolarization induced slow calcium transients that were similar to those present in normal C2C12 and normal NLT cell lines. Slow calcium transients in transfected cells were blocked by nifedipine as well as by the G protein inhibitor, pertussis toxin, but not by ryanodine, the RYR inhibitor. Since slow Ca2+ transients appear to be mediated by IP3, we measured the increase of IP3 mass after K+ depolarization. The IP3 transient seen in control cells was inhibited by nifedipine and was absent in nontransfected dysgenic cells, but α1-transfected cells recovered the depolarization-induced IP3 transient. In normal myotubes, 10 μM nifedipine, but not ryanodine, inhibited c-jun and c-fos mRNA increase after K+ depolarization. These results suggest a role for DHPR-mediated calcium signals in regulation of early gene expression. A model of excitation-transcription coupling is presented in which both G proteins and IP3 appear as important downstream mediators after sensing of depolarization by DHPR.

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Induces an Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate-dependent Increase in Nuclear and Cytosolic Calcium in Cultured Rat Cardiac Myocytes*

In the heart, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a pro-hypertrophic and anti-apoptotic peptide. In cultured rat cardiomyocytes, IGF-1 induced a fast and transient increase in Ca2+i levels apparent both in the nucleus and cytosol, releasing this ion from intracellular stores through an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-dependent signaling pathway. Intracellular IP3 levels increased after IGF-1 stimulation in both the presence and absence of extracellular Ca2+. A different spatial distribution of IP3 receptor isoforms in cardiomyocytes was found. Ryanodine did not prevent the IGF-1-induced increase of Ca2+i levels but inhibited the basal and spontaneous Ca2+i oscillations observed when cardiac myocytes were incubated in Ca2+-containing resting media. Spatial analysis of fluorescence images of IGF-1-stimulated cardiomyocytes incubated in Ca2+-containing resting media showed an early increase in Ca2+i, initially localized in the nucleus. Calcium imaging suggested that part of the Ca2+ released by stimulation with IGF-1 was initially contained in the perinuclear region. The IGF-1-induced increase on Ca2+i levels was prevented by 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid-AM, thapsigargin, xestospongin C, 2-aminoethoxy diphenyl borate, U-73122, pertussis toxin, and βARKct (a peptide inhibitor of Gβγ signaling). Pertussis toxin also prevented the IGF-1-dependent IP3 mass increase. Genistein treatment largely decreased the IGF-1-induced changes in both Ca2+i and IP3. LY29402 (but not PD98059) also prevented the IGF-1-dependent Ca2+i increase. Both pertussis toxin and U73122 prevented the IGF-1-dependent induction of both ERKs and protein kinase B. We conclude that IGF-1 increases Ca2+i levels in cultured cardiac myocytes through a Gβγ subunit of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein-PI3K-phospholipase C signaling pathway that involves participation of IP3.

Nuclear inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors regulate local Ca2+ transients and modulate cAMP response element binding protein phosphorylation.

Several lines of evidence indicate that increases in nuclear Ca2+ have specific biological effects that differ from those of cytosolic Ca2+, suggesting that they occur independently. The mechanisms involved in controlling nuclear Ca2+ signaling are both controversial and still poorly understood. Using hypotonic shock combined with mechanical disruption, we obtained and characterized a fraction of purified nuclei from cultured rat skeletal myotubes. Both immunoblot studies and radiolabeled inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [IP3] binding revealed an important concentration of IP3 receptors in the nuclear fraction. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy studies localized type-1 and type-3 IP3 receptors in the nucleus with type-1 receptors preferentially localized in the inner nuclear membrane. Type-2 IP3 receptor was confined to the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Isolated nuclei responded to IP3 with rapid and transient Ca2+ concentration elevations, which were inhibited by known blockers of IP3 signals. Similar results were obtained with isolated nuclei from the 1B5 cell line, which does not express ryanodine receptors but releases nuclear Ca2+ in an IP3-dependent manner. Nuclear Ca2+ increases triggered by IP3 evoked phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein with kinetics compatible with sequential activation. These results support the idea that Ca2+ signals, mediated by nuclear IP3 receptors in muscle cells, are part of a distinct Ca2+ release component that originates in the nucleus and probably participates in gene regulation mediated by cAMP response element binding protein.

Differences in both inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate mass and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors between normal and dystrophic skeletal muscle cell lines

Human normal (RCMH) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (RCDMD) cell lines, as well as newly developed normal and dystrophic murine cell lines, were used for the study of both changes in inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) mass and IP3 binding to receptors. Basal levels of IP3 were increased two‐ to threefold in dystrophic human and murine cell lines compared to normal cell lines. Potassium depolarization induced a time‐dependent IP3 rise in normal human cells and cells of the myogenic mouse cell line (129CB3), which returned to their basal levels after 60 s. However, in the human dystrophic cell line (RCDMD), IP3 levels remained high up to 200 s after potassium depolarization. Expression of IP3 receptors was studied measuring specific binding of 3H‐IP3 in the murine cell lines (normal 129CB3 and dystrophic mdx XLT 4‐2). All the cell lines bind 3H‐IP3 with relatively high affinity (Kd: between 40 and 100 nmol/L). IP3 receptors are concentrated in the nuclear fraction, and their density is significantly higher in dystrophic cells compared to normal. These findings together with high basal levels of IP3 mass suggest a possible role for this system in the deficiency of intracellular calcium regulation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Pacific ciguatoxin-1b effect over Na+ and K+ currents, inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate content and intracellular Ca2+ signals in cultured rat myotubes.

The action of the main ciguatoxin involved in ciguatera fish poisoning in the Pacific region (P‐CTX‐1b) was studied in myotubes originated from rat skeletal muscle cells kept in primary culture. The effect of P‐CTX‐1b on sodium currents at short times of exposure (up to 1 min) showed a moderate increase in peak Na+ current. During prolonged exposures, P‐CTX‐1b decreased the peak Na+ current. This action was always accompanied by an increase of leakage currents, tail currents and outward Na+ currents, resulting in an intracellular Na+ accumulation. This effect is blocked by prior exposure to tetrodotoxin (TTX) and becomes evident only after washout of TTX. Low to moderate concentrations of P‐CTX‐1b (2–5 nM) partially blocked potassium currents in a manner that was dependent on the membrane potential. P‐CTX‐1b (2–12 nM) caused a small membrane depolarization (3–5 mV) and an increase in the frequency of spontaneous action potential discharges that reached in general low frequencies (0.1–0.5 Hz). P‐CTX‐1b (10 nM) caused a transient increase of intracellular inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) mass levels, which was blocked by TTX. In the presence of P‐CTX‐1b (10 nM) and in the absence of external Ca2+, the intracellular Ca2+ levels show a transient increase in the cytoplasm as well as in the nuclei. The time course of this effect may reflect the action of IP3 over internal stores activated by P‐CTX‐1b‐induced membrane depolarization.

Xestospongin B, a competitive inhibitor of IP3-mediated Ca2+ signalling in cultured rat myotubes, isolated myonuclei, and neuroblastoma (NG108-15) cells

Xestospongin B, a macrocyclic bis‐1‐oxaquinolizidine alkaloid extracted from the marine sponge Xestospongia exigua, was highly purified and tested for its ability to block inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3)‐induced Ca2+ release. In a concentration‐dependent manner xestospongin B displaced [3H]IP3 from both rat cerebellar membranes and rat skeletal myotube homogenates with an EC50 of 44.6 ± 1.1 μM and 27.4 ± 1.1 μM, respectively. Xestospongin B, depending on the dose, suppressed bradykinin‐induced Ca2+ signals in neuroblastoma (NG108‐15) cells, and also selectively blocked the slow intracellular Ca2+ signal induced by membrane depolarization with high external K+ (47 mM) in rat skeletal myotubes. This slow Ca2+ signal is unrelated to muscle contraction, and involves IP3 receptors. In highly purified isolated nuclei from rat skeletal myotubes, Xestospongin B reduced, or suppressed IP3‐induced Ca2+ oscillations with an EC50 = 18.9 ± 1.35 μM. In rat myotubes exposed to a Ca2+‐free medium, Xestospongin B neither depleted sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores, nor modified thapsigargin action and did not affect capacitative Ca2+ entry after thapsigargin‐induced depletion of Ca2+ stores. Ca2+‐ATPase activity measured in skeletal myotube homogenates remained unaffected by Xestospongin B. It is concluded that xestospongin B is an effective cell‐permeant, competitive inhibitor of IP3 receptors in cultured rat myotubes, isolated myonuclei, and neuroblastoma (NG108‐15) cells.

Ion pathways in transverse tubules: quantification of receptors in membranes isolated from frog and rabbit skeletal muscle

The presence of four cation pathways in membrane vesicles isolated from transverse tubules of frog and rabbit skeletal muscle was studied by measuring binding of specific blockers. Transverse tubules purified from frog muscle have a maximal binding capacity for [3H]nitrendipine (a marker for voltage-dependent calcium channels) of 130 pmol/mg of protein; this binding is strongly dependent on temperature and, at 37 degrees C, on the presence of diltiazem. Receptors for [3H]ethylenediamine tetrodotoxin (a marker for voltage-dependent sodium channels) and for 125I-labeled alpha-bungarotoxin (a marker for acetylcholine-mediated channels) showed maximal binding values of about 5 pmol/mg. The number of sodium-pumping sites in the isolated tubule vesicles, inferred from [3H]ouabain binding, was 215 pmol/mg. The high purity of this preparation makes feasible the use of these values as a criterion to judge the degree of purity of isolated preparations, and it allows investigation of transverse tubule contamination in other muscle membrane fractions.

Slow Calcium Signals after Tetanic Electrical Stimulation in Skeletal Myotubes

The fluorescent calcium signal from rat myotubes in culture was monitored after field-stimulation with tetanic protocols. After the calcium signal sensitive to ryanodine and associated to the excitation-contraction coupling, a second long-lasting calcium signal refractory to ryanodine was consistently found. The onset kinetics of this slow signal were slightly modified in nominally calcium-free medium, as were both the frequency and number of pulses during tetanus. No signal was detected in the presence of tetrodotoxin. The participation of the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR) as the voltage sensor for this signal was assessed by treatment with agonist and antagonist dihydropyridines (Bay K 8644 and nifedipine), showing an enhanced and inhibitory response, respectively. In the dysgenic GLT cell line, which lacks the alpha1(S) subunit of the DHPR, the signal was absent. Transfection of these cells with the alpha1(S) subunit restored the slow signal. In myotubes, the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) mass increase induced by a tetanus protocol preceded in time the slow calcium signal. Both an IP(3) receptor blocker and a phospholipase C inhibitor (xestospongin C and U73122, respectively) dramatically inhibit this signal. Long-lasting, IP(3)-generated slow calcium signals appear to be a physiological response to activity-related fluctuations in membrane potential sensed by the DHPR.

Membrane Electrical Activity Elicits Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate-dependent Slow Ca2+ Signals through a Gβγ/Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase γ Pathway in Skeletal Myotubes

Tetanic electrical stimulation of myotubes evokes a ryanodine receptor-related fast calcium signal, during the stimulation, followed by a phospholipase C/inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent slow calcium signal few seconds after stimulus end. L-type calcium channels (Cav 1.1, dihydropyridine receptors) acting as voltage sensors activate an unknown signaling pathway involved in phospholipase C activation. We demonstrated that both G protein and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase were activated by electrical stimulation, and both the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate rise and slow calcium signal induced by electrical stimulation were blocked by pertussis toxin, by a Gβγ scavenger peptide, and by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors. Immunofluorescence using anti-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase γ antibodies showed a clear location in striations within the cytoplasm, consistent with a position near the I band region of the sarcomere. The time course of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation, monitored in single living cells using a pleckstrin homology domain fused to green fluorescent protein, was compatible with sequential phospholipase Cγ1 activation as confirmed by phosphorylation assays for the enzyme. Co-transfection of a dominant negative form of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase γ inhibited the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity as well as the slow calcium signal. We conclude that Gβγ/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase γ signaling pathway is involved in phospholipase C activation and the generation of the slow calcium signal induced by tetanic stimulation. We postulate that membrane potential fluctuations in skeletal muscle cells can activate a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, phospholipase C pathway toward modulation of long term, activity-dependent plastic changes.

Expression of ion channels during differentiation of a human skeletal muscle cell line.

An immortal, cloned cell line (RCMH), obtained from human skeletal muscle was established in our laboratory and shown to express muscle specific proteins. We measured ligand binding to ion channels, ion currents using whole cell patch clamp and intracellular calcium both in cells grown in complete media and in cells grown for 4--40 days in media supplemented with hormones and nutrients (differentiating media). Markers for differentiated muscle, such as the muscle isoform of creatine kinase and the cytoskeletal proteins α-actinin, α-sarcomeric actin, myosin and titin were present in early stages. Receptors for γ toxin from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom, a specific modulator for voltage dependent sodium channels, were present (0.9--1.0 pmol mg−1 protein) during stage 1 (0--6 days in culture with differentiating media) and increased by 50% in stage 3 (more than 10 days in differentiating media). High and low affinity dihydropyridine receptors present in stage 1 convert into a single type of high affinity receptors in stage 3. Both intracellular calcium release and InsP3 receptors were evident in stage 1 but ryanodine receptors were expressed only in stage 3. RCMH cells showed no voltage sensitive currents in stage 1. Between 7 and 10 days in differentiating media (stage 2), an outward potassium current was observed. Small inward currents appeared only in stage 3; we identified both tetrodotoxin sensitive and tetrodotoxin resistant sodium currents as well as calcium currents. This pattern is consistent with the expression of voltage dependent calcium release before appearance of both the action potential and ryanodine receptors