Cannabinoids elicit hypotension mainly via activated CB(1) receptors and show complex cardiovascular actions. Effects on human heart muscle have not been studied yet. Isolated human atrial heart muscle preparations were stimulated by electrical field with 1 Hz to contract isometrically at optimal length and were challenged with the endogenous cannabinoid arachidonyl ethanolamide (anandamide), the metabolically stable analogue R-methanandamide, and the potent synthetic CB(1) receptor agonist HU-210. Anandamide dose-dependently decreased systolic force (82.2 +/- 4.8% and 60.8 +/- 6.8% of maximal systolic force for 0.1 and 1 microM, respectively, P< 0.05). The selective CB(1) receptor antagonist AM-251 (1 microM, P < 0.05), but not the CB(2) receptor antagonist, AM-630 (1 microM), the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N omega-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) (500 microM), or the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin (100 microM), prevented the effect. Contrary to indomethacin, l-NAME alone showed negative inotropic effects (72.1 +/- 3.54%, P < 0.001). The R-methanandamide (1 microM: 50.4 +/- 3.5%, P < 0.001) and HU-210 (1 microM: 60.1 +/- 3.8%, P < 0.001) had similar negative inotropic effects. The existence of CB(1) receptors on heart muscle was verified using Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining. The conclusion is that anandamide, R-methanandamide, and HU-210 decrease contractile performance in human atrial muscle via CB(1) receptors.
We have studied the spontaneous and nerve-evoked synaptic currents during the initial period of nerve-muscle contact in Xenopus cell cultures. The precise timing of the contact was achieved by physically manipulating embryonic muscle cells into contact with co-cultured spinal neurons. Previous studies have shown that physical contact of the muscle membrane induces pulsatile release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the growth cone of these neurons, resulting in spontaneous synaptic currents (SSCs) in the muscle cell within seconds following the contact. In the present work, we first showed that these SSCs at the manipulated nerve-muscle contacts are similar to those observed at naturally occurring synapses. We then examined the possible cellular mechanisms responsible for the marked variation in SSC amplitude and showed that it most likely results from differences in either the amount of ACh contained in each release event or the extent of close membrane apposition near the release sites. During the first 20 min following the nerve-muscle contact, there was an increase in the frequency and mean amplitude of the SSCs. During a similar period, the evoked synaptic currents (ESCs), which were induced by suprathreshold electrical stimulation of the neuronal soma, also showed an increase in the mean amplitude and a reduction in the delay of onset following the stimulus. These postcontact changes in the efficacy of synaptic transmission may be related to an increase in the total area of close membrane apposition between the nerve and muscle cells. This was suggested by the finding that neurite-muscle adhesion increases over a similar postcontact period. The transition from low- to high-efficacy transmission during the early phase of contact may reflect the process of selective adhesion between the cells, and thus signify the formation of specific synapse. Analysis of the fluctuation in the ESC amplitude at the early nerve-muscle contact suggests that evoked release of ACh occurs as multiples of a quantal unit. However, this unit is apparently related to only a small subpopulation of SSCs of relatively high amplitudes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that energy metabolism is impaired in residual intact myocardium of chronically infarcted rat heart, contributing to contractile dysfunction. Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced in rats by coronary artery ligation. (6), aortic stenosis (7), dilated cardiomyopathy in the Syrian hamster (8), uninephrectomy plus steroid treatment (9), or the spontaneously hypertensive rat (10). The purpose of the present work was, therefore, to define performance, oxygen consumption, and parameters of energy reserve, i.e., tissue contents of ATP and creatine phosphate (CP), creatine kinase (CK) activity and isoenzyme distribution, and phosphoryl transfer rates via CK (using 3P-magnetization transfer), in normal rat heart and in residual intact myocardium after MI. Using these measurements, we directly tested whether changes in energy metabolism can contribute to contractile dysfunction in post-MI heart. MethodsAnimals and experimental MI. Infarcts or sham operations were carried out in 12-wk-old Wistar rats, kept in a 12-h light-dark cycle. Left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) ligation was performed by a previously described technique (1, 11). Briefly, a left thoracotomy was performed under ether anesthesia and positive pressure ventilation. The heart was rapidly exteriorized by applying gentle pressure on both sides of the thorax. The LAD was ligated between the pulmonary outflow tract and the left atrium. The heart was then replaced into the thorax, lungs were inflated by increasing positive end-expiratory pressure, and the wound was closed immediately. Sham operation was performed using an identical procedure except that the suture was passed under the coronary artery without ligation. Mortality rate of infarcted rats for the first 24 h after the operation was 40-50%. Surviving rats were kept on commercial rat chow and water ad libitum. All procedures conformed to the guiding principles of the American Physiological Society. Isolated rat heart preparation. 8 wk after LAD ligation or sham operation, rats were anesthetized by injecting 20 mg pentobarbital sodium intraperitoneally. After thoracotomy, the heart was rapidly excised and immersed in ice-cold buffer. The aorta was dissected free and mounted onto a cannula attached to a perfusion apparatus, as described previously (12). Retrograde perfusion of the heart was started in the 1092Neubauer et al.J. Clin. Invest.C) The
Cardiac hypertrophy is characterized by both remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and hypertrophic growth of the cardiocytes. Here we show increased expression and cytoskeletal association of the ECM proteins fibronectin and vitronectin in pressureoverloaded feline myocardium. These changes are accompanied by cytoskeletal binding and phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at Tyr-397 and Tyr-925, c-Src at Tyr-416, recruitment of the adapter proteins p130Cas , Shc, and Nck, and activation of the extracellular-regulated kinases ERK1/2. A synthetic peptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif of fibronectin and vitronectin was used to stimulate adult feline cardiomyocytes cultured on laminin or within a type-I collagen matrix. Whereas cardiocytes under both conditions showed RGD-stimulated ERK1/2 activation, only collagen-embedded cells exhibited cytoskeletal assembly of FAK, c-Src, Nck, and Shc. In RGD-stimulated collagenembedded cells, FAK was phosphorylated only at Tyr-397 and c-Src association occurred without Tyr-416 phosphorylation and p130Cas association. Therefore, cSrc activation is not required for its cytoskeletal binding but may be important for additional phosphorylation of FAK. Overall, our study suggests that multiple signaling pathways originate in pressure-overloaded heart following integrin engagement with ECM proteins, including focal complex formation and ERK1/2 activation, and many of these pathways can be activated in cardiomyocytes via RGD-stimulated integrin activation.Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, valvular defects, and myocardial infarction are often associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy. This hypertrophy occurs in response to an increased mechanical (hemodynamic) load on the heart in the form of pressure or volume overload, which is characteristic of hypertension and valvular defects, or to a decrease in functional heart tissue as seen in myocardial infarction. The initial hypertrophic response of the heart is compensatory but frequently deteriorates into heart failure and increased morbidity/mortality (1, 2). This transition from compensation to failure occurs when further hypertrophy of the heart cannot normalize wall stress and maintain contractile function in the face of its hemodynamic load. Although mechanical load appears to directly regulate mass and associated phenotypic changes at the level of the cardiocyte (for a review see Ref.3), the mechanisms that couple load to the hypertrophic growth initiation and to the transition into heart failure have yet to be delineated. Whereas several key players including G-proteins (4), calcineurin (5, 6), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 1 family members, namely, extracellular-regulated kinases (ERK1/2) (7) and p38 MAPK (8), as well as protein kinase C (9) and p70/85 S6 kinase (10, 11) have been implicated in the pathways that connect load to hypertrophic growth, the complexity of interaction between signaling pathways make deciphering them a difficult task in hypertrophic research.In an...
Hypertrophic cardiac growth is a major compensatory response of the heart to an increased mechanical (hemodynamic) load in the form of either pressure or volume overload. Although this response is initially compensatory, a transition from this state to failure occurs when further growth of the heart is not sufficient to normalize the wall stress and maintain contractile function (1). Therefore, a major research interest in cardiovascular disease is to understand how the increase in hemodynamic load is transmitted intracellularly for mediating hypertrophic growth. Although the mechanical load appears to directly regulate the hypertrophic growth initiation, the signaling mechanism that connects load to such growth is not well understood.A major cellular event during cardiac hypertrophy is increased protein synthesis (1-5). Enhanced protein synthesis can occur via accelerated protein translation, increased biogenesis of translational components, or both. A significant amount of mRNA of vertebrate cells possesses a unique 5Ј-terminal oligopyrimidine (5Ј-TOP) 1 sequence in the 5Ј-untranslated region (5Ј-UTR), and these mRNA species generally code for specific ribosomal proteins (6, 7). Their translation is largely controlled via phosphorylation of the 40 S ribosomal S6 protein (S6 protein) at its C terminus (8) by p70/85 S6 kinase (S6K1) (9 -12). There are two isoforms of S6K1: the 70-kDa isoform was first isolated from mouse 3T3 cells (13), and the 85-kDa isoform of this kinase was then identified (14). The p85 isoform is expressed from the same transcript as the p70 isoform through an alternative translational initiation start site, which adds a 23-amino acid nuclear localization signal to the N terminus (15,16). Therefore, the 85-kDa isoform is predominantly in the nucleus, whereas the 70-kDa isoform is present mostly in the cytoplasm. Both the S6K isoforms are collectively called p70/85S6K, p70S6K, or S6K1 and have been shown to phosphorylate the S6 protein and mediate the biogenesis of the translational components, including several of the ribosomal proteins and elongation factors (12). The p85 isoform has been shown to have additional roles in translational control, G 1 to S phase transition, and increased DNA synthesis (17). Recent studies using S6K1 knockout mice (18) demonstrate no appreciable change in S6 protein phosphorylation, 5Ј-TOP mRNA translation, or cell growth, although these mice exhibited a small mouse phenotype. These studies (18) and other independent studies (19 -21) resulted in the discovery of another S6K (S6K2), which possesses 70% homology with the p70 isoform of
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