Glutamate stimulates inositol phosphate formation in striatal neurones

The major excitatory amino acids, glutamate (Glu) and aspartate (Asp), are thought to act at three receptor subtypes in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). These are termed quisqualate (QA), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and kainate (KA) receptors according to the specific agonist properties of these compounds revealed by electrophysiological studies. Although Glu has been shown to stimulate cyclic GMP formation in brain slices, direct regulation of second messenger systems (cyclic AMP, Ca2+ or inositol phosphates) subsequent to activation of excitatory amino-acid receptors, has not been extensively studied. Here we demonstrate that in striatal neurones, excitatory amino acids, but not inhibitory or non-neuroactive amino acids, induce a three- to fourfold increase in inositol mono-, di- and triphosphate (IP, IP, IP) formation with the relative potency QA greater than Glu greater than NMDA, KA. The Glu-evoked formation of inositol phosphates appears to result principally from actions at QA as well as NMDA receptors on striatal neurones. Our results suggest that excitatory amino acids stimulate inositol phosphate formation directly, rather than indirectly by the evoked release and subsequent actions of adenosine or acetylcholine.     

Differential regulation of the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor by Na+ and guanine nucleotides

Many hormones interact with receptors which stimulate the enzyme adenylate cyclase. Less well characterized ar those receptors which mediate an inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity. However, guanine nucleotides are clearly important in the regulation of both stimulatory and inhibitory receptors. Monovalent cations, notably Na+, regulate many inhibitory receptor systems but apparently not stimulatory receptors. We investigate here the effects of Na+ and guanine nucleotides on the adenylate cyclase-coupled inhibitory alpha 2-adrenergic receptor of the rabbit platelet. Computer modelling of adrenaline competition curves with 3H-dihydroergocryptine (3H-DHE) indicates that adrenaline induces two distinct affinity states of the alpha 2 receptor--one of higher (alpha 2H) and the other of lower (alpha 2L) affinity. Guanyl-5'-yl-imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) seems to reduce adrenaline affinity to converting the high-affinity state into the low-affinity form of the receptor. In contrast, Na+ reduces adrenaline affinity at both the high- and low-affinity states of the alpha 2 receptor while preserving receptor heterogeneity. Thus, guanine nucleotides and Na+ differ in the manner by which each reduces agonist affinity for the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor.     

Structure of a cannabinoid receptor and functional expression of the cloned cDNA

Marijuana and many of its constituent cannabinoids influence the central nervous system (CNS) in a complex and dose-dependent manner. Although CNS depression and analgesia are well documented effects of the cannabinoids, the mechanisms responsible for these and other cannabinoid-induced effects are not so far known. The hydrophobic nature of these substances has suggested that cannabinoids resemble anaesthetic agents in their action, that is, they nonspecifically disrupt cellular membranes. Recent evidence, however, has supported a mechanism involving a G protein-coupled receptor found in brain and neural cell lines, and which inhibits adenylate cyclase activity in a dose-dependent, stereoselective and pertussis toxin-sensitive manner. Also, the receptor is more responsive to psychoactive cannabinoids than to non-psychoactive cannabinoids. Here we report the cloning and expression of a complementary DNA that encodes a G protein-coupled receptor with all of these properties. Its messenger RNA is found in cell lines and regions of the brain that have cannabinoid receptors. These findings suggest that this protein is involved in cannabinoid-induced CNS effects (including alterations in mood and cognition) experienced by users of marijuana.     

Inhibitory neurones of a motor pattern generator in Xenopus revealed by antibodies to glycine

Glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are inhibitory transmitters of major importance. Whereas neurones using GABA as the transmitter can be visualized by immunocytochemical methods for glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) or GABA, no comparable techniques have been available for the selective visualization of glycinergic neurones. We have now produced polyclonal antibodies which specifically recognize glycine in glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue. We used these antibodies to investigate the distribution of glycine in the simple central nervous system (CNS) of the Xenopus embryo, which contains an anatomically and physiologically defined class of reciprocal inhibitory interneurones, the commissural interneurones. These interneurones have an important role in the generation of the swimming motor pattern and are thought to be glycinergic. The glycine antibodies specifically stain these interneurones, revealing their distribution and number in the embryo CNS. This is the first demonstration of the selective localization of glycine-like immunoreactivity in a putative glycinergic class of neurone that has been characterized physiologically, pharmacologically and anatomically.     

Ectoenzymes control adenosine modulation of immunoisolated cholinergic synapses

One of the most important inhibitory modulators of synaptic transmission in mammalian brain is adenosine. At some cholinergic terminals, adenosine is known to inhibit further release of acetylcholine. It is unclear whether adenosine is released directly at the synapse or whether ATP is co-released with transmitter and hydrolysed to adenosine in the synaptic cleft. Methods used in the past for isolating nerve terminals have not yielded homogeneous preparations, making it impossible to determine whether sufficient ATP or adenosine is released at specific synapses for inhibition of transmitter release to occur. Immunoaffinity purification techniques have recently permitted the preparation of homogeneous populations of cholinergic nerve terminals, which release ATP upon stimulation. We now report that in immunoisolated cholinergic nerve terminals from the striatum synaptic ectophosphohydrolases convert this ATP to adenosine, which inhibits further acetylcholine release, but this inhibitory effect is not seen in cortical cholinergic terminals lacking the complete ectophosphohydrolase pathway. Therefore the differing adenosine-mediated modulation in different brain areas is controlled by the presence and activity of synaptic ectophosphohydrolases.     

Endothelium-derived relaxing factor release on activation of NMDA receptors suggests role as intercellular messenger in the brain

In the vascular system, endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) is the name of the local hormone released from endothelial cells in response to vasodilators such as acetylcholine, bradykinin and histamine. It diffuses into underlying smooth muscle where it causes relaxation by activating guanylate cyclase, so producing a rise in cyclic GMP levels. It has been known for many years that in the central nervous system (CNS) the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate can elicit large increases in cGMP levels, particularly in the cerebellum where the turnover rate of cGMP is low. Recent evidence indicates that cell-cell interactions are involved in this response. We report here that by acting on NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors on cerebellar cells, glutamate induces the release of a diffusible messenger with strikingly similar properties to EDRF. This messenger is released in a Ca2+-dependent manner and its activity accounts for the cGMP responses that take place following NMDA receptor activation. In the CNS, EDRF may link activation of postsynaptic NMDA receptors to functional modifications in neighbouring presynaptic terminals and glial cells.     

Serotonin stimulates DNA synthesis in fibroblasts acting through 5-HT1B receptors coupled to a Gi-protein

Growth factors can be divided into two classes which act through distinct signal transduction pathways. One class including epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor and fibroblast growth factor activates receptor tyrosine kinases, and the second class, including thrombin, bombesin, bradykinin and vasopressin activates a phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C through GTP-binding proteins which can be inactivated by pertussis toxin. In Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts, thrombin-induced mitogenicity seems to correlate well with phospholipase C activation and both events are sensitive to pertussis toxin. Thrombin, like the other mitogens in this class, simultaneously inhibits adenylate cyclase. This involves an inhibitory G protein (Gi), a well established pertussis toxin substrate. The relative contributions of the two signalling pathways to mitogenicity has not been evaluated so far. We report here that the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), a contracting agent and mitogen for smooth muscle cells, activates phospholipase C, inhibits adenylate cyclase and stimulates DNA synthesis in fibroblasts. These events are sensitive to pertussis toxin. We show that the mitogenicity of 5-hydroxytryptamine can be uncoupled from phospholipase C activation that is mediated by 5-HT2 receptors, but correlates perfectly with inhibition of adenylate cyclase through 5-HT1B receptor. We propose that inhibition of adenylate cyclase or activation of an undefined effector system by Gi is important in 5-hydroxytryptamine induced DNA synthesis and contributes to the strong mitogenicity of the other members of this family of growth factors.     

Abolition of the expression of inhibitory guanine nucleotide regulatory protein Gi activity in diabetes

Many cell-surface receptors for hormones appear to exert their effects on target cells by interacting with specific guanine nucleotide binding regulatory proteins (G-proteins) which couple receptors to their second-messenger signal generation systems. A common intracellular second messenger, which is used by many hormones, is cyclic AMP. This is produced by adenylate cyclase, whose activity is controlled by two G-proteins, Gs which mediates stimulatory effects and Gi inhibitory effects on adenylate cyclase activity. In liver, the hormone glucagon increases intracellular cAMP concentrations by activating adenylate cyclase by a Gs-mediated process. This effect of glucagon is antagonised by the hormone insulin, although the molecular mechanism by which insulin elicits its actions is obscure. However, insulin receptors exhibit a tyrosyl kinase activity and appear to interact with G-proteins, perhaps by causing phosphorylation of them. In type I diabetes, circulating insulin levels are abnormally low, giving rise to gross perturbations of metabolism as well as to a variety of complications such as ionic disturbances, neuropathies of the nervous system, respiratory and cardiovascular aberrations and predisposition to infection. We show here that experimentally-induced type I diabetes leads to the loss of expression of Gi in rat liver. As it has been suggested that Gi may couple receptors to K+-channels as well as mediating the inhibition of adenylate cyclase, aberrations in the control of expression of this key regulatory protein in type I diabetes may be expected to lead to pleiotropic effects.     

Two functionally distinct alpha2-adrenergic receptors regulate sympathetic neurotransmission

The sympathetic nervous system regulates cardiovascular function by activating adrenergic receptors in the heart, blood vessels and kidney. Alpha2-adrenergic receptors are known to have a critical role in regulating neurotransmitter release from sympathetic nerves and from adrenergic neurons in the central nervous system; however, the individual roles of the three highly homologous alpha2-adrenergic-receptor subtypes (alpha2A, alpha2B, alpha2C) in this process are not known. We have now studied neurotransmitter release in mice in which the genes encoding the three alpha2-adrenergic-receptor subtypes were disrupted. Here we show that both the alpha2A- and alpha2C-subtypes are required for normal presynaptic control of transmitter release from sympathetic nerves in the heart and from central noradrenergic neurons. Alpha2A-adrenergic receptors inhibit transmitter release at high stimulation frequencies, whereas the alpha2C-subtype modulates neurotransmission at lower levels of nerve activity. Both low- and high-frequency regulation seem to be physiologically important, as mice lacking both alpha2A- and alpha2C-receptor subtypes have elevated plasma noradrenaline concentrations and develop cardiac hypertrophy with decreased left ventricular contractility by four months of age.     

Glutamate spillover suppresses inhibition by activating presynaptic mGluRs

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) found on synaptic terminals throughout the brain are thought to be important in modulating neurotransmission. Activation of mGluRs by synaptically released glutamate depresses glutamate release from excitatory terminals but the physiological role of mGluRs on inhibitory terminals is unclear. We have investigated activation of mGluRs on inhibitory terminals within the cerebellar glomerulus, a structure in which GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)-releasing inhibitory terminals and glutamatergic excitatory terminals are in close apposition and make axo-dendritic synapses onto granule cells. Here we show that 'spillover' of glutamate, which is released from excitatory mossy fibres, inhibits GABA release from Golgi cell terminals by activating presynaptic mGluRs under physiological conditions. The magnitude of the depression of the inhibitory postsynaptic current is dependent on the frequency of mossy fibre stimulation, reaching 50% at 100 Hz. Furthermore, the duration of inhibitory postsynaptic current depression mirrors the time course of mossy fibre activity. Our results establish that mGluRs on inhibitory interneuron axons sense the activity of neighbouring excitatory synapses. This heterosynaptic mechanism is likely to boost the efficacy of active excitatory fibres by locally reducing the level of inhibition.     

A presynaptic action of glutamate at the cone output synapse

Neurotransmitter release from many central nervous system synapses is regulated by 'autoreceptors' at the synaptic terminal, which bind the released transmitter and alter release accordingly. The photoreceptors of lower vertebrates are thought to use glutamate as a neurotransmitter. Glutamate conveys the visual signal to postsynaptic bipolar and horizontal cells, but has been reported not to act on the photoreceptors themselves. We show here that glutamate evokes a current, carried largely by chloride ions, in cones isolated from the tiger salamander retina. This response is localized to the synaptic terminal of the cone. Removing external sodium blocks this action of glutamate. These results suggest the existence of a positive feedback loop at the cone output synapse: over most of the light-response range, glutamate released by depolarization of the cone will cause further depolarization, increasing the gain of phototransduction. Glutamate released from rods may also polarize cones, modulating the gain of the cone output synapse. This system is surprisingly different from the autoreceptor systems for most other transmitters, which act in a negative feedback way.     

ATP receptor-mediated synaptic currents in the central nervous system.

Until now, the only well documented, fast excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain has been glutamate. Although there is evidence for adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) acting as a transmitter in the peripheral nervous system, suggestions for such a role in the central nervous system have so far not been supported by any direct evidence. Here we report the recording of evoked and miniature synaptic currents in the rat medial habenula. The fast rise time of the currents showed that they were mediated by a ligand-activated ion channel rather than a second messenger system, thus limiting the known transmitter candidates. Evidence was found for the presence on the cells of glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine and ATP receptors, but not for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT3) or glycine receptors. The evoked currents were unaffected by blockers of glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid or acetylcholine receptors but were blocked by the ATP receptor-blocker, suramin and the desensitizing ATP receptor-agonist alpha,beta-methylene-ATP. Our evidence identifies for the first time synaptic currents in the brain, mediated directly by ATP receptors.     

中枢髓鞘源性抑制蛋白与中枢神经再生

Nogo是一类中枢髓鞘源性抑制蛋白,主要由少突胶质细胞表达,是抑制中枢神经元轴突再生的抑制因子。这些研究成果为探讨CNS损伤的治疗提供了新思路。论文综述了Nogo的结构及在CNS中对神经元轴突再生的抑制作用。     

Kappa- and delta-opioid receptor agonists differentially inhibit striatal dopamine and acetylcholine release

At least three different families of endogenous opioid peptides, the enkephalins, endorphins and dynorphins, are present in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Immunocytochemical studies have demonstrated their localization in neurones, which supports the view that these peptides may have a role as neurotransmitter or neuromodulators. However, the target cells and cellular processes acted upon by the opioid peptides are still largely unknown. One possible function of neuropeptides, including the opioid peptides, may be presynaptic modulation of neurotransmission in certain neuronal pathways, for example, by inhibition or promotion of neurotransmitter release from the nerve terminals. Here we report that dynorphin and some benzomorphans potently and selectively inhibit the release of (radiolabelled) dopamine from slices of rat corpus striatum, by activating kappa-opioid receptors. In contrast, [Leu5]enkephalin and [D-Ala2, D-Leu5]enkephalin selectively inhibit acetylcholine release by activating delta-opioid receptors.     

生物信号传导的研究——茶叶花对FSK-激活型腺苷酸环化酶的影响

腺苷酸环化酶是机体代谢调控中的关键酶之一，并且成为世界上研究衰老生化，肿瘤形成机制等新兴的重要研究课题中的最重要指标之一。Ｆｓｋ是腺苷酸环化酶的目前已知高效、专一的激活剂。是研究环化酶的有效工具。为了探明茶叶花—临床已证实具有降血压、强心等作用的一种单味中草药的作用机理，我们首先研究了Ｆｓｋ对羊肝腺苷酸环化酶的激活作用和相关的动力学，在此基础上研究茶叶花提取物（ＴＬＦＥ）对Ｆｓｋ－激活型环化酶活力的影响。研究结果指出：ＴＬＦＥ对Ｆｓｋ－激活型环化酶活力有抑制作用。并属非竞争性抑制作用类型。ＴＬＦＥ在腺苷酸环化酶的催化亚基上有结合位点，对酶的调节亚基没有明显的亲和性。它可能通过与催化亚基（Ｃ）结合，使Ｆｓｋ－Ａｃ变构而影响Ｆｓｋ－激活型环化酶活力，调整有关生物信息的传递从而产生药效。研究结果对茶叶花的作用机理的阐明提供了重要的依据，也为用近代生物化学和分子生物学理论和技术研究中草药的作用机理提供线索。     

Regulation of glutamate receptors by cations.

Current evidence suggests that glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS); particularly, glutamate excites most neurones in the CNS. Until recently this effect was widely used to study glutamate receptors and to distinguish them from those of other excitatory amino acids. The development of ligand binding studies for many neurotransmitters has facilitated the study of receptors at the molecular level and using these methods we recently reported the existence in hippocampal membranes of pharmacologically distinct sodium-dependent and sodium-independent glutamate binding sites, the former related to high-affinity uptake and the latter exhibiting several characteristics of postsynaptic receptor sites. We now report that, as with other neurotransmitters, several ions regulate the Na-independent binding of glutamate; the monovalent cations induce a decreased binding while certain divalent cations enhance this Na-independent binding. Additionally, since some of these effects appear to be irreversible, we propose that the regulation of glutamate binding by cations might account for the extremely long-lasting potentiation of synaptic responses found in the hippocampus following bursts of repetitive electrical stimulation (see ref. 9 for a review).     

Altered Gs and adenylate cyclase activity in human GH-secreting pituitary adenomas

Gs and Gi are guanine nucleotide-binding, heterotrimer proteins that regulate the activity of adenylate cyclase, and are responsible for transferring stimulatory and inhibitory hormonal signals, respectively, from cell surface receptors to the enzyme catalytic unit. These proteins can be directly activated by agents such as GTP and analogues, fluoride and magnesium. Decreased amounts of Gs and Gi, and even the absence of Gs, have been described, whereas an altered Gs has been reported in a cultured cell line (UNC variant of S49 lymphoma cells), but has never been observed in human disease states. We have found a profoundly altered Gs protein in a group of human growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas, characterized by high secretory activity and intracellular cyclic AMP levels. In the membranes from these tumours no stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity by growth hormone-releasing hormone, by GTP or by fluoride was observed. Indeed, the last two agents caused an inhibition, probably mediated by Gi. In contrast, adenylate cyclase stimulation by Mg2+ was enormously increased. This altered pattern of adenylate cyclase regulation was reproduced when a cholate extract of the tumour membranes (which contains G proteins) was reconstituted with Gs-free, cyc- S49 cell membranes. Inasmuch as secretion from somatotrophic cells is known to be a cAMP-dependent function, the alteration of Gs could be the direct cause of the high secretory activity of the tumours in which it occurs.     

Selective antagonists of benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines produce most, if not all, of their numerous effects on the central nervous system (CNS) primarily by increasing the function of those chemical synapses that use gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) as transmitter. This specific enhancing effect on GABAergic synaptic inhibition is initiated by the interaction of benzodiazepines with membrane proteins of certain central neurones, to which drugs of this chemical class bind with high affinity and specificity. The molecular processes triggered by the interaction of these drugs with central benzodiazepine receptors, and which result in facilitation of GABAergic transmission, are still incompletely understood. Theoretically, benzodiazepines could mimic the effect of hypothetical endogenous ligands for the benzodiazepine receptors, although there is no convincing evidence for their existence; in vitro studies indicate that benzodiazepines might compete with a modulatory peptide which is present in the supramolecular assembly formed by GABA receptor, chloride ionophore and benzodiazepine receptor and which reduces the affinity of the GABA receptor for its physiological ligand. The mechanisms of action of benzodiazepines at the molecular level are likely to be better understood following our recent discovery of benzodiazepine derivatives, whose unique pharmacological activity is to prevent or abolish in a highly selective manner at the receptor level all the characteristic centrally mediated effects of active benzodiazepines. Here, we describe the main properties of a representative of this novel class of specific benzodiazepine antagonists.     

GABA与GABA受体及其在运动中变化的研究现状

γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)是脑内一种重要的抑制性氨基酸类神经递质，通过与GABA受体结合而发挥其生物学功能。GABA受体主要有GABAA、GABAB和GABAC3类，GABAB为代谢性受体，其它为离子型受体。GABA受体在脑缺血缺氧性疾病起重要作用，与运动性中枢疲劳有着密切的联系。     

A novel class (H3) of histamine receptors on perivascular nerve terminals

Two types of histamine receptor, the H1- and H2-receptors, are found not only on vascular smooth muscle cells but on the perivascular autonomic nerve terminals. Activation of the prejunctional histamine receptors modifies transmitter release from the nerve terminals. Recently, histamine was shown to inhibit its own release from depolarized slices of rat cerebral cortex. This phenomenon was found to be mediated by a novel class of histamine receptor, the H3-receptor, that was pharmacologically distinct from the H1- and H2-receptors. Up to now, there has been no indication whether this third class of histamine receptor is present in any tissue other than the brain. We report here that histamine depresses sympathetic neurotransmission in the guinea-pig mesenteric artery by interacting with histamine H3-receptors on the perivascular nerve terminals. The pharmacological properties of these receptors are similar to those reported for the H3-receptors in the brain. Our data provide evidence for the existence of H3-receptors in the autonomic nervous system.