TTranscription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells NFATc (NFATc1, NFAT2) may contribute to slow-twitch skeletal muscle fiber type–specific gene expression. Green fluorescence protein (GFP) or FLAG fusion proteins of either wild-type or constitutively active mutant NFATc [NFATc(S→A)] were expressed in cultured adult mouse skeletal muscle fibers from flexor digitorum brevis (predominantly fast-twitch). Unstimulated fibers expressing NFATc(S→A) exhibited a distinct intranuclear pattern of NFATc foci. In unstimulated fibers expressing NFATc–GFP, fluorescence was localized at the sarcomeric z-lines and absent from nuclei. Electrical stimulation using activity patterns typical of slow-twitch muscle, either continuously at 10 Hz or in 5-s trains at 10 Hz every 50 s, caused cyclosporin A–sensitive appearance of fluorescent foci of NFATc–GFP in all nuclei. Fluorescence of nuclear foci increased during the first hour of stimulation and then remained constant during a second hour of stimulation. Kinase inhibitors and ionomycin caused appearance of nuclear foci of NFATc–GFP without electrical stimulation. Nuclear translocation of NFATc–GFP did not occur with either continuous 1 Hz stimulation or with the fast-twitch fiber activity pattern of 0.1-s trains at 50 Hz every 50 s. The stimulation pattern–dependent nuclear translocation of NFATc demonstrated here could thus contribute to fast-twitch to slow-twitch fiber type transformation.

Class II histone deacetylases (HDACs) may decrease slow muscle fiber gene expression by repressing myogenic transcription factor myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2). Here, we show that repetitive slow fiber type electrical stimulation, but not fast fiber type stimulation, caused HDAC4-GFP, but not HDAC5-GFP, to translocate from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in cultured adult skeletal muscle fibers. HDAC4-GFP translocation was blocked by calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) inhibitor KN-62. Slow fiber type stimulation increased MEF2 transcriptional activity, nuclear Ca2+ concentration, and nuclear levels of activated CaMKII, but not total nuclear CaMKII or CaM-YFP. Thus, calcium transients for slow, but not fast, fiber stimulation patterns appear to provide sufficient Ca2+-dependent activation of nuclear CaMKII to result in net nuclear efflux of HDAC4. Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of HDAC4-GFP in unstimulated resting fibers was not altered by KN-62, but was blocked by staurosporine, indicating that different kinases underlie nuclear efflux of HDAC4 in resting and stimulated muscle fibers.

The nerve agents soman, sarin, VX, and tabun are deadly organophosphorus (OP) compounds chemically related to OP insecticides. Most of their acute toxicity results from the irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the enzyme that inactivates the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. The limitations of available therapies against OP poisoning are well recognized, and more effective antidotes are needed. Here, we demonstrate that galantamine, a reversible and centrally acting AChE inhibitor approved for treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, protects guinea pigs from the acute toxicity of lethal doses of the nerve agents soman and sarin, and of paraoxon, the active metabolite of the insecticide parathion. In combination with atropine, a single dose of galantamine administered before or soon after acute exposure to lethal doses of soman, sarin, or paraoxon effectively and safely counteracted their toxicity. Doses of galantamine needed to protect guinea pigs fully against the lethality of OPs were well tolerated. In preventing the lethality of nerve agents, galantamine was far more effective than pyridostigmine, a peripherally acting AChE inhibitor, and it was less toxic than huperzine, a centrally acting AChE inhibitor. Thus, a galantamine-based therapy emerges as an effective and safe countermeasure against OP poisoning.galantamine ͉ guinea pig ͉ pyridostigmine ͉ soman ͉ sarin T he organophosphorus (OP) compounds soman, sarin, VX, and tabun, referred to as nerve agents, are among the most lethal chemical weapons ever developed (1). Some of them were used with catastrophic results in wars and also in terrorist attacks in Japan in the 1990s (2). The majority of insecticides are also OPs, and intoxication with these compounds represents a major public-health concern worldwide (3, 4). The possibility of further terrorist attacks with nerve agents and the escalating use of OP insecticides underscore the urgent need to develop effective and safe antidotes against OP poisoning.The acute toxicity of OPs results primarily from their action as irreversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (5). In the periphery, acetylcholine accumulation leads to persistent muscarinic receptor stimulation that triggers a syndrome whose symptoms include miosis, profuse secretions, bradycardia, bronchoconstriction, hypotension, and diarrhea. It also leads to overstimulation followed by desensitization of nicotinic receptors, causing severe skeletal muscle fasciculations and subsequent weakness. Central nervous system-related effects include anxiety, restlessness, confusion, ataxia, tremors, seizures, cardiorespiratory paralysis, and coma.Current therapeutic strategies to decrease OP toxicity include atropine to reduce the muscarinic syndrome, oximes to reactivate OP-inhibited AChE, and benzodiazepines to control OPtriggered seizures (5). The limitations of these treatments are well recognized (4), and alternative therapies have been sought. Among these therapies are phosphotriesterases and butyrylcholinesterase (...

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It has been postulated that endogenous kynurenic acid (KYNA) modulates ␣7* nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and NMDA receptor activities in the brain.a To test this hypothesis, ␣7* nAChR and NMDA receptor functions were studied in mice with a targeted null mutation in the gene encoding kynurenine aminotransferase II (mKat-2 ؊/؊ mice), an enzyme responsible for brain KYNA synthesis. At 21 postnatal days, mKat-2 ؊/؊ mice had lower hippocampal KYNA levels and higher spontaneous locomotor activity than wild-type (WT) mice. At this age, ␣7* nAChR activity induced by exogenous application of agonists to CA1 stratum radiatum interneurons was ϳ65% higher in mKat-2 ؊/؊ than WT mice. Binding studies indicated that the enhanced receptor activity may not have resulted from an increase in ␣7* nAChR number. In 21-d-old mKat-2 ؊/؊ mice, endogenous ␣7* nAChR activity in the hippocampus was also increased, leading to an enhancement of GABAergic activity impinging onto CA1 pyramidal neurons that could be reduced significantly by acute exposure to KYNA (100 nM). The activities of GABA A and NMDA receptors in the interneurons and of ␣3␤4* nAChRs regulating glutamate release onto these neurons were comparable between mKat-2 ؊/؊ and WT mice. By 60 d of age, KYNA levels and GABAergic transmission in the hippocampus and locomotor activity were similar between mKat-2 ؊/؊ and WT mice. Our findings that ␣7* nAChRs are major targets for KYNA in the brain may provide insights into the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, disorders in which brain KYNA levels are increased and ␣7* nAChR functions are impaired.