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Intrinsically low open probability of ?7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can be overcome by positive allosteric modulation and serum factors leading to the generation of excitotoxic currents at physiological temperatures.

ABSTRACT: ?7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been a puzzle since their discovery in brain and non-neuronal tissues. Maximal transient probability of an ?7 nAChR being open with rapid agonist applications is only 0.002. The concentration dependence of ?7 responses measured from transfected cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes shows the same disparity in potency estimations for peak currents and net charge, despite being studied at 1000-fold different time scales. In both cases the EC?? was approximately 10-fold lower for net charge than for peak currents. The equivalence of the data obtained at such disparate time scales indicates that desensitization of ?7 is nearly instantaneous. At high levels of agonist occupancy, the receptor is preferentially converted to a ligand-bound nonconducting state, which can be destabilized by the positive allosteric modulator N-(5-chloro-2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-N'-(5-methyl-3-isoxazolyl)-urea (PNU-120596). Such currents can be sufficiently large to be cytotoxic to the ?7-expressing cells. Both the potentiating effect of PNU-120596 and the associated cytotoxicity have a high temperature dependence that can be compensated for by serum factors. Therefore, despite reduced potentiation at body temperatures, use of type II positive allosteric modulators may put cells that naturally express high levels of ?7 nAChRs, such as neurons in the hippocampus and hypothalamus, at risk. With a low intrinsic open probability and high propensity toward the induction of nonconducting ligand-bound states, it is likely that the well documented regulation of signal transduction pathways by ?7 nAChRs in cells such as those that regulate inflammation may be independent of ion channel activation and associated with the nonconducting conformational states.

SUBMITTER: Williams DK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3463224 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Intrinsically low open probability of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can be overcome by positive allosteric modulation and serum factors leading to the generation of excitotoxic currents at physiological temperatures.

Williams Dustin K DK Peng Can C Kimbrell Matthew R MR Papke Roger L RL

Molecular pharmacology 20120724 4

α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been a puzzle since their discovery in brain and non-neuronal tissues. Maximal transient probability of an α7 nAChR being open with rapid agonist applications is only 0.002. The concentration dependence of α7 responses measured from transfected cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes shows the same disparity in potency estimations for peak currents and net charge, despite being studied at 1000-fold different time scales. In both cases the EC₅₀ was appr ...[more]

PMID: 22828799

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Project description:PurposeThe α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is widely expressed in the nervous system, including in the inner retinal neurons in all species studied to date. Although reductions in the expression of α7 nAChRs are thought to contribute to the memory and visual deficits reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia , the α7 nAChR knockout (KO) mouse is viable and has only slight visual dysfunction. The absence of a major phenotypic abnormality may be attributable to developmental mechanisms that serve to compensate for α7 nAChR loss. We hypothesized that the upregulation of genes encoding other nAChR subunits or muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtypes during development partially accounts for the absence of major deficiencies in the α7 nAChR KO mouse. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the deletion of the α7 nAChR subunit in a mouse model resulted in changes in the regulation of other cholinergic receptors or other ion channels in an α7 nAChR KO mouse when compared to a wild-type (WT) mouse.MethodsTo examine gene expression changes, we employed a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using whole retina RNA extracts as well as RNA extracted from selected regions of the retina. These extracts were collected using laser capture microdissection (LCM). The presence of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunit and subtype proteins was determined via western blotting. To determine any differences in the number and distribution of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) amacrine cells, we employed wholemount and vertical immunohistochemistry (IHC) and cell counting. Additionally, in both WT and α7 nAChR KO mouse retinas, the distribution of the nAChR subunit and mAChR subtype proteins were determined via IHC for those KO mice that experienced mRNA changes.ResultsIn the whole retina, there was a statistically significant upregulation of α2, α9, α10, β4, nAChR subunit, and m1 and m4 mAChR subtype transcripts in the α7 nAChR KO mice. However, the retinal layers showed complex patterns of transcript expression. In the ganglion cell layer (GCL), m2 and m4 mAChR subtype transcripts were significantly upregulated, while β3 and β4 nAChR subunit transcripts were significantly downregulated. In the inner portion of the inner nuclear layer (iINL), α2, α9, β4, nAChR subunit, and m3 and m4 mAChR subtype transcripts were significantly downregulated. In the outer portion of the inner nuclear layer (oINL), β2, β4, and m4 AChR subunit transcripts were significantly upregulated. Western blot experiments confirmed the protein expression of α3-α5 and α9-containing nAChR subunits and m1-m2 mAChR subtypes in mouse retinas. IHC results supported many of the mRNA changes observed. Finally, this is the first report of α9 and α10 nAChR subunit expressions in the retina of any species.ConclusionsRather than a simple upregulation of a single AChR subunit or subtype, the absence of the α7 nAChR in the KO mice was associated with complex layer-specific changes in the expression of AChR subunits and subtypes.

Dataset Information

Intrinsically low open probability of ?7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can be overcome by positive allosteric modulation and serum factors leading to the generation of excitotoxic currents at physiological temperatures.

Publications

Intrinsically low open probability of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can be overcome by positive allosteric modulation and serum factors leading to the generation of excitotoxic currents at physiological temperatures.

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