Pericytes are believed to originate from either mesenchymal or neural crest cells. It has recently been reported that pericytes play important roles in the central nervous system (CNS) by regulating blood-brain barrier homeostasis and blood flow at the capillary level. However, the origin of CNS microvascular pericytes and the mechanism of their recruitment remain unknown. Here, we show a new source of cerebrovascular pericytes during neurogenesis. In the CNS of embryonic day 10.5 mouse embryos, CD31+F4/80+ hematopoietic lineage cells were observed in the avascular region around the dorsal midline of the developing midbrain. These cells expressed additional macrophage markers such as CD206 and CD11b. Moreover, the CD31+F4/80+ cells phagocytosed apoptotic cells as functionally matured macrophages, adhered to the newly formed subventricular vascular plexus, and then divided into daughter cells. Eventually, these CD31+F4/80+ cells transdifferentiated into NG2/PDGFRβ/desmin-expressing cerebrovascular pericytes, enwrapping and associating with vascular endothelial cells. These data indicate that a subset of cerebrovascular pericytes derive from mature macrophages in the very early phase of CNS vascular development, which in turn are recruited from sites of embryonic hematopoiesis such as the yolk sac by way of blood flow.

Abstract. Using the whole-cell voltage clamp, we examined acute effects of various agents on Na + / Ca 2+ exchange current (I NCX ) in guinea-pig cardiac ventricular cells and transfected cells. Among the antiarrhythmic drugs, amiodarone, bepridil, dronedarone, cibenzoline, azimilide, and aprindine inhibited I NCX in a concentration-dependent manner. We also investigated the effects on NCX of 2,3-buanedione monoxim (BDM) and selective NCX inhibitors such as KB-R7943, SEA0400, and SN-6. The presence of trypsin in the pipette solution attenuated the inhibitory effects on NCX of amiodarone, bepridil, and BDM, suggesting that these drugs inhibit NCX from the cytosolic side. In contrast, the trypsin-insensitive NCX inhibitors were aprindine, azimilide, dronedarone, cibenzoline, KB-R7943, SEA0400, and SN-6. KB-R7943, SEA0400, and SN-6 suppressed the uni-directional outward I NCX more potently than the uni-directional inward I NCX . The mechanism of this mode-dependency is unknown, but is suggested to be related to intracellular Na + concentration.

The Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) is a bidirectional transporter that normally extrudes Ca(2+) from the cell (forward mode), but also brings Ca(2+) into the cell (reverse mode) under special conditions such as intracellular Na(+) (Na(+)(i)) accumulation or membrane depolarization. There are three mammalian NCX isoforms: NCX1 is widely expressed in the heart, kidney, brain, blood vessels, and so on; whereas the expression of NCX2 and NCX3 is limited mainly to the brain and skeletal muscle. The pharmacology of NCX inhibitors has been studied extensively since the development of KB-R7943, a prototype benzyloxyphenyl NCX inhibitor, in 1996. Currently, experiments are actively progressing with more selective inhibitors: SEA0400, SN-6, and YM-244769. Intriguingly, the inhibitory potency of benzyloxyphenyl NCX inhibitors is directly coupled to the rate of Na(+)(i)-dependent inactivation. Therefore, the benzyloxyphenyl inhibitors are apparently dormant during the forward mode under normal conditions (low Na(+)(i)), but become effective during the reverse mode under pathological conditions (high Na(+)(i)). This should be an ideal profile for calcium regulators against Na(+)(i)-related diseases, such as ischemia/reperfusion injuries, salt-dependent hypertension, and digitalis arrhythmia. Existing ion channel blockers, such as amiodarone, dronedarone, bepridil, aprindine, and cibenzoline, have been found to have an NCX inhibitory action. It is possible that this property is partly responsible for their antiarrhythmic and cardioprotective effects. This article presents the characteristics of selective and non-selective NCX inhibitors and their therapeutic potential as a new calcium regulator.

1 The eect of 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM), a`chemical phosphatase', on Na + /Ca 2+ exchange current (I NCX ) was investigated using the whole-cell voltage-clamp technique in single guinea-pig cardiac ventricular myocytes and in CCL39 ®broblast cells expressing canine NCX1. 2 I NCX was identi®ed as a current sensitive to KB-R7943, a relatively selective NCX inhibitor, at 140 mM Na + and 2 mM Ca 2+ in the external solution and 20 mM Na + and 433 nM free Ca 2+ in the pipette solution.3 In guinea-pig ventricular cells, BDM inhibited I NCX in a concentration-dependent manner. The IC 50 value was 2.4 mM with a Hill coecients of 1. The average time for 50% inhibition by 10 mM BDM was 124+31 s (n=5). 4 The eect of BDM was not aected by 1 mM okadaic acid in the pipette solution, indicating that the inhibition was not via activation of okadaic acid-sensitive protein phosphatases. 5 Intracellular trypsin treatment via the pipette solution signi®cantly suppressed the inhibitory eect of BDM, implicating an intracellular site of action of BDM. 6 PAM (pralidoxime), another oxime compound, also inhibited I NCX in a manner similar to BDM. 7 Isoprenaline at 50 mM and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) at 8 mM did not reverse the inhibition of I NCX by BDM. 8 BDM inhibited I NCX in CCL39 cells expressing NCX1 and in its mutant in which its three major phosphorylatable serine residues were replaced with alanines. 9 We conclude that BDM inhibits I NCX but the mechanism of inhibition is not by dephosphorylation of the Na + /Ca 2+ exchanger as a`chemical phosphatase'.

The oncogenic Wip1 phosphatase (PPM1D) is induced upon DNA damage in a p53-dependent manner and is required for inactivation or suppression of DNA damage-induced cell cycle checkpoint arrest and of apoptosis by dephosphorylating and inactivating phosphorylated Chk2, Chk1, and ATM kinases. It has been reported that arsenic trioxide (ATO), a potent cancer chemotherapeutic agent, in particular for acute promyelocytic leukemia, activates the Chk2/p53 pathway, leading to apoptosis. ATO is also known to activate the p38 MAPK/p53 pathway. Here we show that phosphatase activities of purified Wip1 toward phosphorylated Chk2 and p38 in vitro are inhibited by ATO in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, DNA damageinduced phosphorylation of Chk2 and p38 in cultured cells is suppressed by ectopic expression of Wip1, and this Wip1-mediated suppression can be restored by the presence of ATO. We also show that treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells with ATO resulted in induction of phosphorylation and activation of Chk2 and p38 MAPK, which are required for ATO-induced apoptosis. Importantly, this ATO-induced activation of Chk2/p53 and p38 MAPK/p53 apoptotic pathways can be enhanced by siRNA-mediated suppression of Wip1 expression, further indicating that ATO inhibits Wip1 phosphatase in vivo. These results exemplify that Wip1 is a direct molecular target of ATO.