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Responses of pigeon vestibular hair cells to cholinergic agonists and antagonists.

ABSTRACT: Acetylcholine (ACh) is the major neurotransmitter released from vestibular efferent terminals onto hair cells and afferents. Previous studies indicate that the two classes of acetylcholine receptors, nicotinic (nAChRs) and muscarinic receptors (mAChRs), are expressed by vestibular hair cells (VHCs). To identify if both classes of receptors are present in VHCs, whole cell, voltage-clamp- and current-clamp-patch recordings were performed on isolated pigeon vestibular type I and type II HCs during the application of the cholinergic agonists, acetylcholine and carbachol, and the cholinergic antagonists, D-tubocurarine and atropine. By applying in different combinations, these compounds were used to selectively activate either nAChRs or mAChRs. The effects of nAChR and mAChR activation on HC currents and zero electrode current potential (V(z)) were monitored. It was found that presumed mAChR activation decreased both inward and outward currents in both type I and type II HCs, resulting in either a depolarization or hyperpolarization. Conversely, nAChR activation mainly increased both inward and outward currents in type II HCs, resulting in a hyperpolarization of their V(z). nAChR activation also increased outward currents in type I HCs resulting in either a depolarization or hyperpolarization of their V(z). The decrease of inward and outward currents and the depolarization of the V(z) in type I pigeon HCs by activation of mAChRs represents a new finding. Ion channel candidates in pigeon vestibular HCs that might underlie the modulation of the macroscopic ionic currents and V(z) by different AChR activation are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Li GQ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3026924 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Responses of pigeon vestibular hair cells to cholinergic agonists and antagonists.

Li Gang Q GQ Correia Manning J MJ

Brain research 20101211

Acetylcholine (ACh) is the major neurotransmitter released from vestibular efferent terminals onto hair cells and afferents. Previous studies indicate that the two classes of acetylcholine receptors, nicotinic (nAChRs) and muscarinic receptors (mAChRs), are expressed by vestibular hair cells (VHCs). To identify if both classes of receptors are present in VHCs, whole cell, voltage-clamp- and current-clamp-patch recordings were performed on isolated pigeon vestibular type I and type II HCs during ...[more]

PMID: 21147073

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Project description:Proteomic analysis of chick vestibualr hair bundles purified using the twist-off method. See Description.doc. Utricle hair bundles were purified from E20–21 chicks using the twist-off method (Gillespie & Hudspeth J Cell Biol 112, 625-640, 1991; Shin et al. Neuron 53, 371-386, 2007). NuPAGE LDS sample buffer (Invitrogen) with 50 mM dithiothreitol was added to a combined final volume of 80 µl per 100 utricles' worth of bundles; samples were heated to 70°C for 15 min. Epithelial proteins were similarly solubilized with sample buffer. Proteins were separated by running ~1 cm into a NuPAGE 4–12% Bis-Tris gel (1.5 mm x 10 well; one or two lanes per bundle sample); gels were rinsed with water, then stained with Imperial Protein Stain (Thermo Scientific). The 1 cm of gel with separated proteins was manually sliced into six pieces. Gel pieces were transferred to siliconized tubes and washed and destained in 200 µl 50% methanol overnight. The gel pieces were dehydrated in acetonitrile, rehydrated in 30 µl of 10 mM dithiothreitol in 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate and reduced at room temperature for 0.5 h. The DTT solution was removed and the sample alkylated in 30 µl 50 mM iodoacetamide in 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate at room temperature for 0.5 h. The reagent was removed and the gel pieces dehydrated in 100 µl acetonitrile. The acetonitrile was removed and the gel pieces rehydrated in 100 µl 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate. The pieces were dehydrated in 100 µl acetonitrile, the acetonitrile removed and the pieces completely dried by vacuum centrifugation. The gel pieces were rehydrated in 20 ng/µl trypsin (Sigma-Aldrich T6567 proteomics grade, from porcine pancreas, dimethylated) in 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate on ice for 10 min. Any excess enzyme solution was removed and 20 µl 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate added. The sample was digested overnight at 37°C and the peptides formed extracted from the polyacrylamide in two 30 µl aliquots of 50% acetonitrile/5% formic acid. These extracts were combined and evaporated to 15 µl for MS analysis. For the gel slice immediately adjacent to the agarose, peptides were purified away from interfering polymers by SCX. A single experiment's worth of hair bundles or epithelium was analyzed by six LC-MS/MS runs, corresponding to the six gel pieces. The LC-MS/MS system consisted of a Thermo Electron Orbitrap Velos ETD mass spectrometer system with a Protana nanospray ion source, which was interfaced to a reversed-phase capillary column of 8 cm length x 75 µm internal diameter, self-packed with Phenomenex C18 Jupiter of 10 µm particle size. An extract aliquot (7.5 µl) was injected and peptides eluted from the column by an acetonitrile/0.1 M acetic acid gradient at a flow rate of 0.5 µl/min over 1.2 hr. The nanospray ion source was operated at 2.5 kV. The digest was analyzed using the data-dependent capability of the instrument, acquiring—in sequential scans—a single full scan mass spectrum in the Orbitrap detector at 60,000 resolution to determine peptide molecular weights, and 20 product-ion spectra in the ion trap to determine amino acid sequence. MaxQuant version 1.2.2.5 software was used for protein identification and quantitation. The default contaminants file associated with the MaxQuant download was edited to remove entries known to be present in hair bundles (e.g., actin) and to add additional impurities that entered the bundle-purification workflow (keratins, hemoglobins, egg white components). Mass spectrometry data were searched against Ensembl version 66 (released February, 2012) using Andromeda; the Ensembl FASTA file was edited by replacing several sequences with longer or full-length sequences, including actin gamma 1 (NP_001007825.1), actin beta (NP_990849.1), fascin 1 (NP_001171603), fascin 2 (NP_001171209), ATP synthase beta (NP_001026562.1), peptidylprolyl isomerase A (NP_001159798.1), calbindin 2 (NP_990647.1), PDZD7 (XP_003641537.1), espin (XP_417532.3), and CACNA2D2 (XP_427707.3). Protein identifications were reported with an FDR of 1%. If a set of peptides for a protein was identical to or completely contained within that of another protein, MaxQuant groups those proteins together ("redundant groups"); the entry with the largest number of peptides was used to identify the redundant group. Redundant groups that shared more than 20% of their identified peptides were further grouped in our analysis ("shared-peptide groups"); the entry with the greatest intensity associated with it was used to identify the shared-peptide group.

Project description:Although A-type potassium currents are found in type II hair cells in the inner ear of most species, the molecular mechanisms for activation and inactivation of the A-type potassium current (I(A)) remain unknown. In frog semicircular canal hair cells, for example, there appear to be two classes of currents having either fast or slow inactivation [Norris CH, Ricci AJ, Housley GD, Guth PS (1992) The inactivating potassium currents of hair cells isolated from the crista ampullaris of the frog. J Neurophysiol 68:1642-1653; Russo G, Calzi D, Martini M, Rossi ML, Fesce R, Prigioni I (2007) Potassium currents in the hair cells of vestibular epithelium: position-dependent expression of two types of A channels. Eur J Neurosci 25:695-704]. It has been suggested that somehow the "ball and chain" mechanism (NH(3) (N) terminus motif) is modified by alternative splicing to account for the two classes of inactivation. To examine other possibilities, we cloned alpha and beta subunits that comprise the A-type potassium channel complex in adult and embryonic pigeon brain, cochlea and labyrinth. By sequence homology, we concluded that the subunits present were Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1. The sequence of the open reading frame for Kvalpha1.4 contained the N-terminus, pore and COOH (C) terminus motifs for N-and C-type inactivation. The sequence for Kvbeta1.1 displayed amino acids consistent with assembly and association with Kvalpha1.4 alpha subunits. Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1 were transfected either singly or in combination into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. These cells and native hair cells from the pigeon utricle were patch clamped and the inactivation properties of the A-type current were studied. In the native hair cells, the A-type current was identified by its pharmacological (4-aminopyridine (4-AP); IC(50)=11 microM) and voltage dependent inactivation properties. A comparison of the mean time constants from best-fitted single exponential and sum of two exponential equations to the ionic current inactivation revealed the following. In CHO cells when Kvalpha1.4 was expressed alone, the mean time constant (tau(1)=107 ms+/-19, N=32) was significantly (P<0.001) longer and the mean peak amplitude (2.28 nA+/-0.39, N=32) was smaller than when Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1 were expressed in CHO cells. Moreover, the co-transfection of Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1 into CHO cells caused a shift in the steady state inactivation curve parameter Vo 30 mV in the hyperpolarized direction relative to CHO cells expressing only Kvalpha1.4. Similarly, Kvalpha1.4-transfected CHO cells produced longer time constants and smaller amplitudes than those found for native utricular hair cells. These data lead us to conclude that while the amino acid motifs are present in Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1 to suggest N-and C-type inactivation, co-assembly and association of Kvalpha1.4 and Kvbeta1.1 may also produce changes in the time dependent inactivation properties of vestibular hair cells.

Project description:The styryl pyridinium dyes, FM1-43 and AM1-43, are fluorescent molecules that can permeate the mechanotransduction channels of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. When these dyes are applied to hair cells, they enter the cytoplasm rapidly, resulting in a readily detectable intracellular fluorescence that is often used as a molecular indication of mechanotransduction channel activity. However, such dyes can also permeate the ATP receptor, P2X(2). Therefore, we explored the contribution of P2X receptors to the loading of hair cells with AM1-43. The chick inner ear was found to express P2X receptors and to release ATP, similar to the inner ear of mammals, allowing for the endogenous stimulation of P2X receptors. The involvement of these receptors was evaluated pharmacologically, by exposing the sensory epithelium of the chick inner ear to 5 microM AM1-43 under different experimental conditions and measuring the fluorescence in hair cells after fixation of the tissue. Pre-exposure of the tissue to 5 mM EGTA for 15 min, which should eliminate most of the gating "tip links" of the mechanotransduction channels, deceased fluorescence by only 44%. In contrast, P2X receptor antagonists (pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2',4'-disulfonic acid [PPADS], suramin, 2',3'-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) ATP [TNP-ATP], and d-tubocurarine) had greater effects on dye loading. PPADS, suramin, and TNP-ATP all decreased intracellular AM1-43 fluorescence in hair cells by at least 69% when applied at a concentration of 100 microM. The difference between d-tubocurarine-treated and control fluorescence was statistically insignificant when d-tubocurarine was applied at a concentration that blocks the mechanotransduction channel (200 microM). At a concentration that also blocks P2X(2) receptors (2 mM), d-tubocurarine decreased dye loading by 72%. From these experiments, it appears that AM1-43 can enter hair cells through endogenously activated P2X receptors. Thus, the contribution of P2X receptors to dye entry should be considered when using styryl pyridinium dyes to detect hair cell mechanotransduction channel activity, especially in the absence of explicit mechanical stimulation of stereocilia.

Project description:BackgroundOuter hair cells are the specialized sensory cells that empower the mammalian hearing organ, the cochlea, with its remarkable sensitivity and frequency selectivity. Sound-evoked receptor potentials in outer hair cells are shaped by both voltage-gated K(+) channels that control the membrane potential and also ligand-gated K(+) channels involved in the cholinergic efferent modulation of the membrane potential. The objectives of this study were to investigate the tonotopic contribution of BK channels to voltage- and ligand-gated currents in mature outer hair cells from the rat cochlea.Methodology/principalFindings In this work we used patch clamp electrophysiology and immunofluorescence in tonotopically defined segments of the rat cochlea to determine the contribution of BK channels to voltage- and ligand-gated currents in outer hair cells. Although voltage and ligand-gated currents have been investigated previously in hair cells from the rat cochlea, little is known about their tonotopic distribution or potential contribution to efferent inhibition. We found that apical (low frequency) outer hair cells had no BK channel immunoreactivity and little or no BK current. In marked contrast, basal (high frequency) outer hair cells had abundant BK channel immunoreactivity and BK currents contributed significantly to both voltage-gated and ACh-evoked K(+) currents.Conclusions/significanceOur findings suggest that basal (high frequency) outer hair cells may employ an alternative mechanism of efferent inhibition mediated by BK channels instead of SK2 channels. Thus, efferent synapses may use different mechanisms of action both developmentally and tonotopically to support high frequency audition. High frequency audition has required various functional specializations of the mammalian cochlea, and as shown in our work, may include the utilization of BK channels at efferent synapses. This mechanism of efferent inhibition may be related to the unique acetylcholine receptors that have evolved in mammalian hair cells compared to those of other vertebrates.

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Responses of pigeon vestibular hair cells to cholinergic agonists and antagonists.

Publications

Responses of pigeon vestibular hair cells to cholinergic agonists and antagonists.

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