胞内钙的稳态调节

胞内钙的稳态调节主要有两方面：质膜钙运转调节和胞内钙库的调节。质膜钙运转包括质膜钙泵,质膜钙通道和Ｎａ＾＋／Ｃａ＾２＋交换的调节作用。胞内钙库的调节受第二信使操纵,钙库有其特异的库蛋白分子参与钙的贮存、诱导释放和重新摄取过程。这两方面的协同作用精确保证了细胞溶质中自由钙离子的稳定水平。     

调节Ryanodine受体的相关蛋白

Ｒｙａｎｏｄｉｎｅ受体（ＲｙＲ）是存在于内质网／肌浆网上（ＥＲ／ＳＲ）的一种钙释放经能迅速地将Ｃａ＾２＋从ＥＲＳＲ中释放出来。从而发挥一系列的生理功能。ＲｙＲ是一种颇复杂的分子,其位于胞质的亚基上有大量可供作用物结合的位点,控制构成离子通道的亚基上有大量可供作用物结合的位点。控制构成离子通道的亚基的活性。其中,一些内源性蛋白对ＲｙＲ的活性有重要的调节作用。本文主要介绍ＤＨＰＲｓ、ＴＫＢＰ等这些与Ｒ     

B细胞稳态的信号调节

在人类,65%的骨髓产生的B细胞是自身反应性的,它们大部分在骨髓中被克隆删除了。但有些B细胞通过免疫无力的方式逃脱了这种克隆删除到达外周,产生抗自身的抗体。研究表明,在鼠和人类中,B细胞存活时间过长是引发自身性免疫病的原因之一。B细胞的过度活化将导致自身反应性B细胞的产生和破坏自身免疫耐受,引起自身免疫性疾病或肿瘤;但B细胞的活化不足将使B细胞数量大大减少,抗原应答能力降低,从而使适应性免疫应答失衡。细胞因子和其他信号分子对B细胞稳态的调节是十分严密的,它们或调节B细胞的发育、成熟和分化,或调节B细胞向外周的迁移,或通过调节B细胞周期而使B细胞停留在特定时期,从而使B细胞避免凋亡,或通过调节抗凋亡蛋白或凋亡蛋白而决定B细胞的生存或死亡。本文就细胞因子、转录因子、蛋白激酶等信号分子对B细胞稳态的调节做一综述。     

神经元钙稳态失衡在阿尔茨海默病发病中的进展

淀粉样蛋白的沉积与Tau蛋白磷酸化是阿尔茨海默病发病的关键分子机制,神经元胞内钙离子的变化可影响其生成和代谢;另一方面,这些蛋白的改变会进一步导致神经元钙稳态的失调,致使突触损伤、神经细胞凋亡及认知功能下降。本文就神经元钙稳态失衡在阿尔茨海默病发病中的进展进行综述。     

钙稳态失衡与癌细胞抑制

细胞胞浆钙离子浓度必须处于严格的调控之中,钙稳态失调必将导致细胞严重损伤或死亡（凋亡或坏死）.综述了钙稳态失调在外界因素引起细胞死亡中的作用、直接钙稳态失调的细胞死亡效应、以及钙离子在细胞凋亡中的作用,并讨论了上述作用的机制,最后在总结基础上提出了一种抑癌新途径——选择性引发癌细胞钙稳态失衡.     

神经元钙稳态失衡在阿尔茨海默病发病中的进展木

淀粉样蛋白的沉积与Tau蛋白磷酸化是阿尔茨海默病发病的关键分子机制,神经元胞内钙离子的变化可影响其生成和代谢;另一方面,这些蛋白的改变会进一步导致神经元钙稳态的失调,致使突触损伤、神经细胞凋亡及认知功能下降.本文就神经元钙稳态失衡在阿尔茨海默病发病中的进展进行综述.     

星形胶质细胞微域钙活动研究进展

星形胶质细胞是中枢神经系统中重要的一种胶质细胞,不仅能维持大脑稳态,还能主动参与大脑的信息传递。星形胶质细胞结构复杂,包括胞体、各级突起和终足。随着基因编码钙指示剂和成像技术的发展,研究人员在星形胶质细胞的细小突起或者终足上发现了许多局限的、微小的钙活动,这些钙活动简称为微域钙活动,它们与胞体钙活动存在很大差异,能够影响局部神经元、突触和血管的活动。本文阐述了微域钙活动的检测和分析、特点、来源以及功能,并总结了衰老和神经退行性疾病对微域钙活动的影响,以期更好地理解星形胶质细胞在大脑中的作用,为脑疾病的治疗提供新思路。     

钙调蛋白结合蛋白通过调节细胞骨架稳定性影响肿瘤细胞运动能力

轻链钙调蛋白结合蛋白（light-chain Caldesmon,l-CaD）是一种重要的肌动蛋白结合蛋白,普遍存在于众多非肌肉细胞中。体外研究证明,l-CaD能通过与肌动蛋白的结合起到促进原肌动蛋白（G-actin）聚合、稳定肌动蛋白纤维（F-actin）结构的作用。在磷酸化作用下,l-CaD能从肌动蛋白纤维上脱离并促进肌动蛋白纤维的解聚。该研究拟考察l-CaD在细胞内对细胞肌动蛋白骨架的调节作用,阐明l-CaD对细胞运动能力的影响,作者将天然低表达l-CaD的人源性乳腺癌细胞MCF-7作为细胞模型,在MCF-7胞内以基因转染的方式高表达外源野生型l-CaD及其磷酸化突变株A1234-CaD（不可磷酸化CaD）、D1234-CaD（完全磷酸化CaD）。首先,通过激光共聚焦扫描,探讨了l-CaD对细胞骨架重排的调节;其次,通过细胞迁移transwell阵列,检测了l-CaD对细胞迁移能力的影响;最后,在单细胞层次上测定了细胞基底牵张力、胰酶刺激下的细胞基底脱附能力,并进一步检测了l-CaD对细胞迁移子过程中细胞伸张、收缩的影响。研究结果显示,l-CaD在胞内对细胞骨架的形成有显著的调控作用。非磷酸化l-CaD主要富集在细胞骨架上,增强了细胞骨架的强度,导致细胞基底牵张力以及对胰酶的耐受性增强,但对细胞的迁移能力有显著的抑制作用;磷酸化l-CaD跟细胞骨架结合能力很弱,对细胞的运动能力没有显著影响。通过磷酸化,l-CaD起到了一个“蛋白开关”的作用,通过控制细胞骨架的解聚、重排来调节细胞的运动能力。     

钙蛋白酶的结构及活性调节

钙蛋白酶广泛存在于各组织,广泛表达的钙蛋白酶有两种,钙蛋白酶Ⅰ和钙蛋白酶Ⅱ,它们激活所需的Ca^2＋浓度不同.这两种酶都有大、小两个亚基,分子质量分别为80 ku和30 ku.大亚基有4个结构域,小亚基由2个结构域构成.新近还发现了几种组织特异表达的钙蛋白酶.钙蛋白酶抑制蛋白是钙蛋白酶的内源抑制蛋白,它由5个结构域组成,其中4个为重复序列,均具有独立抑制钙蛋白酶活性的功能.体内钙蛋白酶活性受到严格调控,贴膜反应可以降低钙蛋白酶对Ca^2＋的依赖性,膜磷脂头部所带的磷酸基团与激活作用有关,自溶也可以降低对Ca^2＋的依赖,而钙蛋白酶抑制蛋白则起专一的抑制作用.     

星形胶质细胞在血脑屏障发育与稳态维持中的作用机制

血脑屏障(blood-brain barrier, BBB)由脑微血管内皮细胞及包绕内皮细胞的基膜、周细胞和星形胶质细胞的足突构成,它将血液与脑组织分隔开来,从而维持神经功能包括神经环路、突触连接和重塑等微环境的稳定。BBB稳态失衡与包括神经退行性疾病在内的许多中枢神经系统疾病有关,但目前BBB稳态维持与失衡的机制尚不清楚。星形胶质细胞作为BBB的组成成分,也是神经血管单元中联系神经元与脑微血管的枢纽,在BBB发育特别是BBB稳态维持中起重要作用。本文在简要介绍BBB的发育过程之后,综述了星形胶质细胞诱导BBB发育、成熟及其在BBB稳态维持中的作用和机制的研究进展,并指出了与BBB稳态失衡有关的A1型星形胶质细胞异质性的概念,以期为深入研究BBB稳态维持机制及加深理解BBB稳态失衡诱发神经退行性疾病提供新启示。     

构建钙荧光探针细胞用于探究胞浆和线粒体钙对ATP刺激的响应

目的:构建表达基因编辑钙探针(GECIs)的细胞系HeLa-GECIs,探究细胞应答外界ATP刺激中钙离子在细胞内的响应和变化。方法:分别用能够直接通过荧光强度反映细胞胞浆内和线粒体内钙离子相对浓度的2种钙探针cyto-GCaMP6和4mt-GCaMP6感染HeLa细胞,获得2种表达钙离子探针的HeLa细胞系;在感染了2种腺病毒探针24 h后,用共聚焦荧光显微镜检测荧光探针在HeLa细胞内的表达情况;在表达2种钙探针的细胞的培养基中加入外源ATP,用Time-lapse成像动态观测技术观察HeLa细胞内钙离子对外环境中ATP的响应。结果:共聚焦荧光显微镜观察,确定95%以上的细胞表达了对应的钙离子指示荧光探针;Time-lapse成像动态观测技术观察发现,在细胞培养基中加入ATP后,细胞胞浆钙探针荧光强度瞬时(3～6 s)升至10倍,200 s后逐渐降低到基础水平;线粒体钙到达峰值(4倍)的时间稍滞后(5～8 s),并且回落更慢,300 s时至1.5倍。在ATP受体P2X7抑制剂A438079预处理的实验组,上述胞浆钙和线粒体钙浓度上升不明显。结论:构建了能在活体细胞内通过荧光探针实时监测钙离子响应胞外ATP刺激的细胞实验体系,为进一步深入探究ATP等危险信号导致细胞的炎性损伤机制奠定了基础。     

Subcellular calcium oscillators and calcium influx support agonist-induced calcium waves in cultured astrocytes

We have analysed Ca²⁺ waves induced by norepinephrine in rat cortical astrocytes in primary culture using fluorescent indicators fura-2 or fluo-3. The temporal pattern of the average [Ca²⁺]_i responses were heterogeneous from cell to cell and most cells showed an oscillatory response at concentrations of agonist around EC₅₀ (200 nM). Upon receptor activation, [Ca²⁺]_i signals originated from a single cellular locus and propagated throughout the cell as a wave. Wave propagation was supported by specialized regenerative calcium release loci along the length of the cell. The periods of oscillations, amplitudes, and the rates of [Ca²⁺]_i rise of these subcellular oscillators differ from each other. These intrinsic kinetic properties of the regenerative loci support local waves when stimulation is continued over long periods of time. The presence of local waves at specific, invariant cellular sites and their inherent kinetic properties provide for the unique and reproducible pattern of response seen in a given cell. We hypothesize that these loci are local specializations in the endoplasmic reticulum where the magnitude of the regenerative Ca²⁺ release is higher than other regions of the cell. Removal of extracellular Ca²⁺ or blockade of Ca²⁺ channels by inorganic cations (Cd²⁺ and Ni²⁺) during stimulation of adrenergic receptors alter the sustained plateau component of the [Ca²⁺]_i response. In the absence of Ca²⁺ release, due to store depletion with thapsigargin, agonist occupation alone does not induce Ca²⁺ influx in astrocytes. This finding suggests that, under these conditions, receptor-operated Ca²⁺ entry is not operative. Furthermore, our experiments provide evidence for local Ca²⁺ oscillations in cells which can support both wave propagation as well as spatially discrete Ca²⁺ signalling.     

Tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibits purinergic calcium signalling in blood-brain barrier endothelial cells

The breaching of the blood-brain barrier is an essential aspect in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory diseases, in which tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) as well as endothelial calcium ions play a key role. We investigated whether TNF-alpha could influence the communication of calcium signals between brain endothelial cells (GP8 and RBE4). Intercellular calcium waves triggered by mechanical stimulation or photoliberation of InsP3 in single cells were significantly reduced in size after TNF-alpha exposure (1000 U/mL, 2 and 24 h). Calcium signals are communicated between cells by means of gap junctional and paracrine purinergic signalling. TNF-alpha significantly inhibited gap junctional coupling, stimulated the basal release of ATP, and dose-dependently blocked the triggered component of ATP release. The cytokine displayed similar effects on the uptake of a fluorescent reporter dye into the cells. Previous work with connexin mimetic peptides demonstrated that the triggered ATP release in these cells is connexin-related; these peptides did, however, not influence the elevated basal ATP release caused by TNF-alpha. We conclude that TNF-alpha depresses calcium signal communication in blood-brain barrier endothelial cells, by reducing gap junctional coupling and by inhibiting triggered ATP release. The cytokine thus inhibits connexin-related communication pathways like gap junctions and connexin hemichannels.     

Volume-regulated anion channels serve as an auto/paracrine nucleotide release pathway in aortic endothelial cells

Mechanical stress induces auto/paracrine ATP release from various cell types, but the mechanisms underlying this release are not well understood. Here we show that the release of ATP induced by hypotonic stress (HTS) in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) occurs through volume-regulated anion channels (VRAC). Various VRAC inhibitors, such as glibenclamide, verapamil, tamoxifen, and fluoxetine, suppressed the HTS-induced release of ATP, as well as the concomitant Ca(2+) oscillations and NO production. They did not, however, affect Ca(2+) oscillations and NO production induced by exogenously applied ATP. Extracellular ATP inhibited VRAC currents in a voltage-dependent manner: block was absent at negative potentials and was manifest at positive potentials, but decreased at highly depolarized potentials. This phenomenon could be described with a "permeating blocker model," in which ATP binds with an affinity of 1.0 +/- 0.5 mM at 0 mV to a site at an electrical distance of 0.41 inside the channel. Bound ATP occludes the channel at moderate positive potentials, but permeates into the cytosol at more depolarized potentials. The triphosphate nucleotides UTP, GTP, and CTP, and the adenine nucleotide ADP, exerted a similar voltage-dependent inhibition of VRAC currents at submillimolar concentrations, which could also be described with this model. However, inhibition by ADP was less voltage sensitive, whereas adenosine did not affect VRAC currents, suggesting that the negative charges of the nucleotides are essential for their inhibitory action. The observation that high concentrations of extracellular ADP enhanced the outward component of the VRAC current in low Cl(-) hypotonic solution and shifted its reversal potential to negative potentials provides more direct evidence for the nucleotide permeability of VRAC. We conclude from these observations that VRAC is a nucleotide-permeable channel, which may serve as a pathway for HTS-induced ATP release in BAEC.     

Glutamate-stimulated ATP release from spinal cord astrocytes is potentiated by substance P

ATP has recently emerged as a key molecule mediating pathological pain. The aim of this study was to examine whether spinal cord astrocytes could be a source of ATP in response to the nociceptive neurotransmitters glutamate and substance P. Glutamate stimulated ATP release from these astrocytes and this release was greatly potentiated by substance P, even though substance P alone did not elicit ATP release. Substance P also potentiated glutamate-induced inward currents, but did not cause such currents alone. When glutamate was applied alone it acted exclusively through alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-proprionate receptors to stimulate Ca(2+) influx-dependent ATP release. However, when substance P was co-applied with glutamate, ATP release could be elicited by activation of NMDA and metabotropic glutamate receptors. Activation of neurokinin receptor subtypes, protein kinase C and phospholipases A(2), C and D were needed for substance P to bring about its effects. These results suggest that astrocytes may be a major source of ATP in the spinal cord on activation of nerve fibres that release substance P and glutamate.