The mechanisms by which active neurons, via astrocytes, rapidly signal intracerebral arterioles to dilate remain obscure. Here we show that modest elevation of extracellular potassium (K+) activated inward rectifier K+ (Kir) channels and caused membrane potential hyperpolarization in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of intracerebral arterioles and, in cortical brain slices, induced Kir-dependent vasodilation and suppression of SMC intracellular calcium (Ca2+) oscillations. Neuronal activation induced a rapid (<2 s latency) vasodilation that was greatly reduced by Kir channel blockade and completely abrogated by concurrent cyclooxygenase inhibition. Astrocytic endfeet exhibited large-conductance, Ca2+-sensitive K+ (BK) channel currents that could be activated by neuronal stimulation. Blocking BK channels or ablating the gene encoding these channels prevented neuronally induced vasodilation and suppression of arteriolar SMC Ca2+, without affecting the astrocytic Ca2+ elevation. These results support the concept of intercellular K+ channel-to-K+ channel signaling, through which neuronal activity in the form of an astrocytic Ca2+ signal is decoded by astrocytic BK channels, which locally release K+ into the perivascular space to activate SMC Kir channels and cause vasodilation.

Earley S, Straub SV, Brayden JE. Protein kinase C regulates vascular myogenic tone through activation of TRPM4. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 292: H2613-H2622, 2007. First published February 9, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01286.2006.-Myogenic vasoconstriction results from pressure-induced vascular smooth muscle cell depolarization and Ca 2ϩ influx via voltage-dependent Ca 2ϩ channels, a process that is significantly attenuated by inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC). It was recently reported that the melastatin transient receptor potential (TRP) channel TRPM4 is a critical mediator of pressureinduced smooth muscle depolarization and constriction in cerebral arteries. Interestingly, PKC activity enhances the activation of cloned TRPM4 channels expressed in cultured cells by increasing sensitivity of the channel to intracellular Ca 2ϩ . Thus we postulated that PKCdependent activation of TRPM4 might be a critical mediator of vascular myogenic tone. We report here that PKC inhibition attenuated pressure-induced constriction of cerebral vessels and that stimulation of PKC activity with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) enhanced the development of myogenic tone. In freshly isolated cerebral artery myocytes, we identified a Ca 2ϩ -dependent, rapidly inactivating, outwardly rectifying, iberiotoxin-insensitive cation current with properties similar to those of expressed TRPM4 channels. Stimulation of PKC activity with PMA increased the intracellular Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of this current in vascular smooth muscle cells. To validate TRPM4 as a target of PKC regulation, antisense technology was used to suppress TRPM4 expression in isolated cerebral arteries. Under these conditions, the magnitude of TRPM4-like currents was diminished in cells from arteries treated with antisense oligonucleotides compared with controls, identifying TRPM4 as the molecular entity responsible for the PKC-activated current. Furthermore, the extent of PKC-induced smooth muscle cell depolarization and vasoconstriction was significantly decreased in arteries treated with TRPM4 antisense oligonucleotides compared with controls. We conclude that PKC-dependent regulation of TRPM4 activity contributes to the control of cerebral artery myogenic tone. melastatin transient receptor potential; phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate; cerebral artery myocytes MODULATION OF ARTERIAL TONE in response to changes in intraluminal pressure [often referred to as the vascular myogenic response (3)] is vital for autoregulation of blood flow. Myogenic constriction is mediated by pressure-induced smooth muscle cell depolarization and Ca 2ϩ influx via voltage-dependent Ca 2ϩ channels (VDCCs). Inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) activity leads to a loss of myogenic tone (13,20,37), suggesting an important role for this pathway in pressuredependent vascular regulation. Further insight into the molecular mechanisms responsible for myogenic constriction was provided by a recent report from our laboratory demonstrating that TRPM4, a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP)...

We construct a mathematical model of Ca(2+) wave propagation in pancreatic and parotid acinar cells. Ca(2+) release is via inositol trisphosphate receptors and ryanodine receptors that are distributed heterogeneously through the cell. The apical and basal regions are separated by a region containing the mitochondria. In response to a whole-cell, homogeneous application of inositol trisphosphate (IP(3)), the model predicts that 1), at lower concentrations of IP(3), the intracellular waves in pancreatic cells begin in the apical region and are actively propagated across the basal region by Ca(2+) release through ryanodine receptors; 2), at higher [IP(3)], the waves in pancreatic and parotid cells are not true waves but rather apparent waves, formed as the result of sequential activation of inositol trisphosphate receptors in the apical and basal regions; 3), the differences in wave propagation in pancreatic and parotid cells can be explained in part by differences in inositol trisphosphate receptor density; 4), in pancreatic cells, increased Ca(2+) uptake by the mitochondria is capable of restricting Ca(2+) responses to the apical region, but that this happens only for a relatively narrow range of [IP(3)]; and 5), at higher [IP(3)], the apical and basal regions of the cell act as coupled Ca(2+) oscillators, with the basal region partially entrained to the apical region.

The dynamics of Ca2+ release and Ca2+‐activated Cl− currents in two related, but functionally distinct exocrine cells, were studied to gain insight into how the molecular specialization of Ca2+ signalling machinery are utilized to produce different physiological endpoints: in this case, fluid or exocytotic secretion. Digital imaging and patch‐clamp methods were used to monitor the temporal and spatial properties of changes in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c) and Cl− currents following the controlled photolytic release of caged‐InsP3 or caged‐Ca2+. In parotid and pancreatic acinar cells, changes in [Ca2+]c and activation of a Ca2+‐activated Cl− current occurred with close temporal coincidence. In parotid, a rapid global Ca2+ signal was invariably induced, even with low‐level photolytic release of threshold amounts of InsP3. In pancreas, threshold stimulation generated an apically delimited [Ca2+]c signal, while a stronger stimulus induced a global [Ca2+]c signal which exhibited characteristics of a propagating wave. InsP3 was more effective in parotid, where [Ca2+]c signals initiated with shorter latency and exhibited a faster time‐to‐peak than in pancreas. The increased potency of InsP3 in parotid probably results from a four‐fold higher number of InsP3 receptors as measured by radiolabelled InsP3 binding and western blot analysis. The Ca2+ sensitivity of the Cl− channels in parotid and pancreas was determined from the [Ca2+]‐current relationship measured during a dynamic ‘Ca2+ ramp’ produced by the continuous, low‐level photolysis of caged‐Ca2+. In addition to a greater number of InsP3 receptors, the Cl− current density of parotid acinar cells was more than four‐fold greater than that of pancreatic cells. Whereas activation of the current was tightly coupled to increases in Ca2+ in both cell types, local Ca2+ clearance was found to contribute substantially to the deactivation of the current in parotid. These data reveal specializations of common modules of Ca2+‐release machinery and subsequent effector activation that are specifically suited to the distinct functional roles of these two related cell types.

No abstract

Active neurons communicate to intracerebral arterioles in part through an elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in astrocytes, leading to the generation of vasoactive signals involved in neurovascular coupling. In particular, [Ca2+]i increases in astrocytic processes (“endfeet”), which encase cerebral arterioles, have been shown to result in vasodilation of arterioles in vivo. However, the spatial and temporal properties of endfoot [Ca2+]i signals have not been characterized, and information regarding the mechanism by which these signals arise is lacking. [Ca2+]i signaling in astrocytic endfeet was measured with high spatiotemporal resolution in cortical brain slices, using a fluorescent Ca2+ indicator and confocal microscopy. Increases in endfoot [Ca2+]i preceded vasodilation of arterioles within cortical slices, as detected by simultaneous measurement of endfoot [Ca2+]i and vascular diameter. Neuronal activity–evoked elevation of endfoot [Ca2+]i was reduced by inhibition of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptor Ca2+ release channels and almost completely abolished by inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake. To probe the Ca2+ release mechanisms present within endfeet, spatially restricted flash photolysis of caged InsP3 was utilized to liberate InsP3 directly within endfeet. This maneuver generated large amplitude [Ca2+]i increases within endfeet that were spatially restricted to this region of the astrocyte. These InsP3-induced [Ca2+]i increases were sensitive to depletion of the intracellular Ca2+ store, but not to ryanodine, suggesting that Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from ryanodine receptors does not contribute to the generation of endfoot [Ca2+]i signals. Neuronally evoked increases in astrocytic [Ca2+]i propagated through perivascular astrocytic processes and endfeet as multiple, distinct [Ca2+]i waves and exhibited a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. Regenerative Ca2+ release processes within the endfeet were evident, as were localized regions of Ca2+ release, and treatment of slices with the vasoactive neuropeptides somatostatin and vasoactive intestinal peptide was capable of inducing endfoot [Ca2+]i increases, suggesting the potential for signaling between local interneurons and astrocytic endfeet in the cortex. Furthermore, photorelease of InsP3 within individual endfeet resulted in a local vasodilation of adjacent arterioles, supporting the concept that astrocytic endfeet function as local “vasoregulatory units” by translating information from active neurons into complex InsP3-mediated Ca2+ release signals that modulate arteriolar diameter.

In salivary acinar cells, intracellular calcium ([Ca2؉In salivary acinar cells, acetylcholine (ACh) 1 released following parasympathetic stimulation is the primary regulator of a variety of physiological processes, including exocytosis of salivary proteins and fluid secretion. These processes are controlled in large part by the ACh-stimulated increase in [Ca 2ϩ ] i as a result of the G␣ q -coupled, phospholipase C-catalyzed increase in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP 3 ) and subsequent Ca 2ϩ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (1-4). The principal targets of the [Ca 2ϩ ] i increase important for initiating fluid secretion are Ca 2ϩ -activated conductances required for the transcellular movement of ions (5-9). Initially, Ca 2ϩ -activated Cl Ϫ conductances present in the apical plasma membrane of the acinar cell are activated by the release of Ca 2ϩ . The result of net Cl Ϫ accumulation into the lumen leads to an electrical potential that allows Na ϩ movement via the paracellular pathway, and the subsequent osmotic movement of water creates an isotonic, NaCl-rich fluid, the primary saliva (10, 11). As a consequence of the Cl Ϫ flux through Ca 2ϩ -activated Cl Ϫ conductance, the membrane depolarizes and the driving force for secretion diminishes as the membrane potential (V m ) approaches the equilibrium potential for Cl Ϫ (E Cl ). To maintain the membrane potential and facilitate continued Cl

In pancreatic acinar cells, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)–dependent cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]i) increases resulting from agonist stimulation are initiated in an apical “trigger zone,” where the vast majority of InsP3 receptors (InsP3R) are localized. At threshold stimulation, [Ca2+]i signals are confined to this region, whereas at concentrations of agonists that optimally evoke secretion, a global Ca2+ wave results. Simple diffusion of Ca2+ from the trigger zone is unlikely to account for a global [Ca2+]i elevation. Furthermore, mitochondrial import has been reported to limit Ca2+ diffusion from the trigger zone. As such, there is no consensus as to how local [Ca2+]i signals become global responses. This study therefore investigated the mechanism responsible for these events. Agonist-evoked [Ca2+]i oscillations were converted to sustained [Ca2+]i increases after inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ import. These [Ca2+]i increases were dependent on Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum and were blocked by 100 μM ryanodine. Similarly, “uncaging” of physiological [Ca2+]i levels in whole-cell patch-clamped cells resulted in rapid activation of a Ca2+-activated current, the recovery of which was prolonged by inhibition of mitochondrial import. This effect was also abolished by ryanodine receptor (RyR) blockade. Photolysis of d-myo InsP3 P4(5)-1-(2-nitrophenyl)-ethyl ester (caged InsP3) produced either apically localized or global [Ca2+]i increases in a dose-dependent manner, as visualized by digital imaging. Mitochondrial inhibition permitted apically localized increases to propagate throughout the cell as a wave, but this propagation was inhibited by ryanodine and was not seen for minimal control responses resembling [Ca2+]i puffs. Global [Ca2+]i rises initiated by InsP3 were also reduced by ryanodine, limiting the increase to a region slightly larger than the trigger zone. These data suggest that, while Ca2+ release is initially triggered through InsP3R, release by RyRs is the dominant mechanism for propagating global waves. In addition, mitochondrial Ca2+ import controls the spread of Ca2+ throughout acinar cells by modulating RyR activation.