RGS9 modulates dopamine signaling in the basal ganglia

Regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) modulate heterotrimeric G proteins in part by serving as GTPase-activating proteins for Galpha subunits. We examined a role for RGS9-2, an RGS subtype highly enriched in striatum, in modulating dopamine D2 receptor function. Viral-mediated overexpression of RGS9-2 in rat nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum) reduced locomotor responses to cocaine (an indirect dopamine agonist) and to D2 but not to D1 receptor agonists. Conversely, RGS9 knockout mice showed heightened locomotor and rewarding responses to cocaine and related psychostimulants. In vitro expression of RGS9-2 in Xenopus oocytes accelerated the off-kinetics of D2 receptor-induced GIRK currents, consistent with the in vivo data. Finally, chronic cocaine exposure increased RGS9-2 levels in nucleus accumbens. Together, these data demonstrate a functional interaction between RGS9-2 and D2 receptor signaling and the behavioral actions of psychostimulants and suggest that psychostimulant induction of RGS9-2 represents a compensatory adaptation that diminishes drug responsiveness.     

Factors affecting the escape behaviour of juvenile chinstrap penguins, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pygoscelis antarctica</Emphasis>, in response to human disturbance

Human disturbance can be considered to have similar effects as predation risk for animals. Thus, when disturbed, animal responses are likely to follow the same economic principles used by prey when encountering predators. We simulated predator attacks with different characteristics and in different situations to study the factors that determine the escape response of 1-year-old chinstrap penguins. The results indicate that 1-year-old penguins adjusted their escape behaviour according to the level of risk posed by the researcher acting as a potential predator. When 1-year-old penguins were close to a breeding subcolony, they started to escape later, and fled shorter distances, at lower speeds, and not fleeing directly into the subcolony. This contrasts with their fleeing behaviour far from subcolonies, when penguins fled sooner, for longer, and faster, and in a direction that maximized the distance between themselves and the experimenter, by fleeing directly away from the experimenter. This might suggest the existence of a trade-off between fleeing from the predator and avoiding entering the subcolony where 1-year-old penguins will receive aggressive responses from breeding adults. The type of approach was not important in deciding when to flee. However, penguins did escape for longer distances and faster when approached directly, showing that penguins were able to assess risk level based on predator behaviour. Our findings may have implications for management of penguin colonies visited by tourists. The delimitation of buffer areas and advice on how tourists should behave when approaching penguins might arise from studies of the factors that affect risk assessment of penguins.     

Identification of sequences responsible for intracellular targeting and membrane binding of rat CYP2E1 in yeast

The role of the hydrophobic NH(2)-terminal domain of rat CYP2E1 for intracellular targeting and membrane binding was investigated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system. Several different CYP2E1 variants with deletions and mutations were expressed in yeast, and their intracellular localization and membrane-binding properties were analyzed. We found that an amino acid stretch including the B-helix from glycine 82 to asparagine 95 is responsible for mitochondrial association of CYP2E1 in yeast. Furthermore, we investigated the membrane-binding properties of the variants and concluded that the same region in the B-helix is responsible for membrane interactions of CYP2E1 by electrostatic interactions. A soluble variant of CYP2E1 lacking the first 82 amino acids and containing leucine to aspartate amino acid exchanges at positions 90 and 91, which disrupted the amphipathic nature of the B-helix, was expressed at relatively high levels in the yeast and was found to be catalytically active toward chlorzoxazone in cumene hydroperoxide-supported reactions. We suggest that these amino acid changes at positions 90 and 91 abolish the electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged membrane and the positively charged B-helix, thereby producing a soluble product.     

Adenosine A2A-dopamine D2 receptor-receptor heteromerization: qualitative and quantitative assessment by fluorescence and bioluminescence energy transfer

There is evidence for strong functional antagonistic interactions between adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) and dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs). Although a close physical interaction between both receptors has recently been shown using co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization assays, the existence of a A2AR-D2R protein-protein interaction still had to be demonstrated in intact living cells. In the present work, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) techniques were used to confirm the occurrence of A2AR-D2R interactions in co-transfected cells. The degree of A2AR-D2R heteromerization, measured by BRET, did not vary after receptor activation with selective agonists, alone or in combination. BRET competition experiments were performed using a chimeric D2R-D1R in which helices 5 and 6, the third intracellular loop (I3), and the third extracellular loop (E3) of the D2R were replaced by those of the dopamine D1 receptor (D1R). Although the wild type D2R was able to decrease the BRET signal, the chimera failed to achieve any effect. This suggests that the helix 5-I3-helix 6-E3 portion of D2R holds the site(s) for interaction with A2AR. Modeling of A2AR and D2R using a modified rhodopsin template followed by molecular dynamics and docking simulations gave essentially two different possible modes of interaction between D2R and A2AR. In the most probable one, helix 5 and/or helix 6 and the N-terminal portion of I3 from D2R approached helix 4 and the C-terminal portion of the C-tail from the A2AR, respectively.     

Regulation of melatonin 1a receptor signaling and trafficking by asparagine-124.

Melatonin is a pineal hormone that regulates seasonal reproduction and has been used to treat circadian rhythm disorders. The melatonin 1a receptor is a seven- transmembrane domain receptor that signals predominately via pertussis toxin-sensitive G-proteins. Point mutations were created at residue N124 in cytoplasmic domain II of the receptor and the mutant receptors were expressed in a neurohormonal cell line. The acidic N124D- and E-substituted receptors had high-affinity (125)I-melatonin binding and a subcellular localization similar to the neutral N124N wild-type receptor. Melatonin efficacy for the inhibition of cAMP by N124D and E mutations was significantly decreased. N124D and E mutations strongly compromised melatonin efficacy and potency for inhibition of K(+)-induced intracellular Ca(++) fluxes and eliminated control of spontaneous calcium fluxes. However, these substitutions did not appear to affect activation of Kir3 potassium channels. The hydrophobic N124L and N124A or basic N124K mutations failed to bind (125)I-melatonin and appeared to aggregate or traffic improperly. N124A and N124K receptors were retained in the Golgi. Therefore, mutants at N124 separated into two sets: the first bound (125)I-melatonin with high affinity and trafficked normally, but with reduced inhibitory coupling to adenylyl cyclase and Ca(++) channels. The second set lacked melatonin binding and exhibited severe trafficking defects. In summary, asparagine-124 controls melatonin receptor function as evidenced by changes in melatonin binding, control of cAMP levels, and regulation of ion channel activity. Asparagine-124 also has a unique structural effect controlling receptor distribution within the cell.     

Antisense GAP-43 Inhibits the Evoked Release of Dopamine from PC12 Cells

Abstract: To investigate the role of the neuronal growth-associated protein GAP-43 (neuromodulin, B-50, F1, P-57) in neurotransmitter release, we transfected PC12 cells with a recombinant expression vector coding for antisense human GAP-43 cRNA. Two stable transfectants, designated AS1 and AS2, were selected that had integrated the recombinant sequence and expressed antisense GAP-43 RNA. Immunoblot analysis of proteins from AS1 and AS2 cells indicated that the level of GAP-43 in these cell lines was reduced. In the presence of extracellular calcium, a depolarizing concentration of K⁺ (56 m M ) evoked dopamine release from control cells, but not from AS1 and AS2 cells. Similarly, the calcium ionophore A23187 evoked dopamine release from control cells, but was ineffective in stimulating dopamine release from AS1 and AS2 cells. The antisense transfectants, as well as the control cells, contained appreciable quantities of dopamine and secretory granules with a normal appearance. Because the expression of antisense GAP-43 RNA in PC12 cells leads to a decrease in GAP-43 expression and to the loss of evoked dopamine release, these results provide evidence of a role for GAP-43 in calcium-dependent neurotransmitter release.     

Contributions of Conserved Serine Residues to the Interactions of Ligands with Dopamine D2 Receptors

Four dopamine D2 receptor mutants were constructed, in each of which an alanine residue was substituted for one of four conserved serine residues, i.e., Ser-193, Ser-194, Ser-197, and Ser-391. Wild-type and mutant receptors were expressed transiently in COS-7 cells and stably in C6 glioma cells for analysis of ligand-receptor interactions. In radioligand binding assays, the affinity of D2 receptors for dopamine was decreased 50-fold by substitution of alanine for Ser-193, implicating this residue in the binding of dopamine. Each mutant had smaller decreases in affinity for one or more of the ligands tested, with no apparent relationship between the class of ligand and the pattern of mutation-induced changes in affinity, except that the potency of agonists was decreased by substitution for Ser-193. The potency of dopamine for inhibition of adenylyl cyclase was reduced substantially by substitution of alanine for Ser-193 or Ser-197. Mutation of Ser-194 led to a complete loss of efficacy for dopamine and p-tyramine, which would be consistent with an interaction between Ser-194 and the p-hydroxyl substituent of dopamine that is necessary for activation of the receptors to occur. Because mutation of the corresponding residues of beta 2-adrenergic receptors has very different consequences, we conclude that although the position of these serine residues is highly conserved among catecholamine receptors, and the residues as a group are important in ligand binding and activation of receptors by agonists, the function of each of the residues considered separately varies among catecholamine receptors.     

The reactions of oxicam and sulfoanilide non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with hypochlorous acid: determination of the rate constants with an assay based on the competition with para-aminobenzoic acid chlorination and identification of some oxidation products

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is an oxygen-derived species involved in physiological processes related to the defence of the organism that may cause adverse effects when its production is insufficiently controlled. In order to examine its reactivity with potential scavenging molecules from the non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) family, a competition assay based on para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) chlorination was developed. The original optimised in vitro fluorimetric procedure offered the possibility to determine rate constants (k_s) for the reaction with HOCl in physiologically relevant conditions. The specificity of the system was improved by a liquid chromatography (LC) which allows the separation of the drugs and their oxidation products. After determination of the rate constant for PABA chlorination by HOCl (mean±SD in M_-1 s_-1: 4.3±0.3×10³), the applied mathematical model for a chemical competition permits to obtain linear curves from competition studies between several NSAIDs and PABA. Their slopes provided the following rate constants for the different studied drugs: tenoxicam: 4.0±0.7×10³, piroxicam: 3.6±0.7×10³, lornoxicam: 4.3±0.7×10³, meloxicam: 1.7±0.3×10⁴, nimesulide: 2.3±0.6×10². Meloxicam therefore reacted significantly faster than the other oxicams and nimesulide, which is the weakest scavenger of the studied series. The identification of some of the oxidation products by NMR or MS permitted to explore the reaction mechanism and to examine some aspects of the structure/activity relationships for the molecules of the same chemical family.     

The amyloid precursor protein-binding protein APP-BP1 drives the cell cycle through the S-M checkpoint and causes apoptosis in neurons

APP-BP1 binds to the amyloid precursor protein (APP) carboxyl-terminal domain. Recent work suggests that APP-BP1 participates in a novel ubiquitinylation-related pathway involving the ubiquitin-like molecule NEDD8. We show here that, in vivo in mammalian cells, APP-BP1 interacts with hUba3, its presumptive partner in the NEDD8 activation pathway, and that the APP-BP1 binding site for hUba3 is within amino acids 443-479. We also provide evidence that the human APP-BP1 molecule can rescue the ts41 mutation in Chinese hamster cells. This mutation previously has been shown to lead to successive S phases of the cell cycle without intervening G(2), M, and G(1), suggesting that the product of this gene negatively regulates entry into the S phase and positively regulates entry into mitosis. We show that expression of APP-BP1 in ts41 cells drives the cell cycle through the S-M checkpoint and that this function requires both hUba3 and hUbc12. Overexpression of APP-BP1 in primary neurons causes apoptosis via the same pathway. A specific caspase-6 inhibitor blocks this apoptosis. These findings are discussed in the context of abnormalities in the cell cycle that have been observed in Alzheimer's disease.