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Acetylcholine compartments in mouse diaphragm. Comparison of the effects of black widow spider venom, electrical stimulation, and high concentrations of potassium
No full textThe authors have studied the effects of 25 mM potassium, electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve, and crude black widow spider venom on the ultrastructure, electrophysiology, and acetylcholine (ACh) contents of mouse diaphragms. About 65% of the ACh in diaphragms is contained in a depletable store in the nerve terminals. The rest of the ACh is contained in a nondepletable store that may correspond to the store that remains in denervated muscles and includes, in addition, ACh in the intramuscular branches of the phrenic nerve. About 4% of the ACh released from the depletable store at rest is secreted as quanta and may come from the vesicles, while 96% is secreted in a nonquantized form and comes from an extravesicular pool is uncertain: it could be < 10%, or as great as 50%, of the depletable store. K causes a highly (but perhaps not perfectly) selective increase in the rate of quantal secretion so that quanta account for about 50% of the total ACh released from K-treated diaphragms. K, or electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve, depletes both the vesicular and extravesicular pools of ACh when hemicholinium no. 3 (HC-3) is present. However, most of the vesicles are retained under these conditions so that the diaphragms are able to increase slightly their rates of release of ACh when K is added. Venom depletes the terminals of their vesicles and abolishes the release of quanta of ACh. It depletes the vesicular pool of ACh (since it depletes the vesicles), but may only partially deplete the extravesicular pool (since it reduces resting release only 10-40%). The rate of release of ACh from the residual extravesicular pool does not increase when 25 mM K is added. Although we cannot exclude the possibility that stimulation may double the rate of release of ACh from the extravesicular pool, our results are compatible with the idea that the ACh released by stimulation comes mainly from the vesicles and that, when synthesis is inhibited by HC-3, ACh may be exchanged between the extravesicular pool and recycled vesicles
GANGLIOSIDE ENHANCEMENT OF NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION, PLASTICITY, AND REPAIR
No full textGangliosides are carbohydrate-rich complex lipids of large size and great complexity which are found in cell membranes, especially neuronal cell membranes. They are present in the external leaflet of the membrane. The hydrophobic moiety, consisting of sphingosine and fatty acid (stearic acid, 95%), is inserted into the membrane, while the hydrophilic moiety, consisting of sialic acid (NANA) and other carbohydrates, protrudes towards the extracellular fluid. Although gangliosides were discovered some 50 years ago, their potential role in neuronal functions has been appreciated only recently. During development, their composition and concentration change in a variety of animal species. Their role is indicated from studies which have shown that abnormalities in ganglioside metabolism can have a severe impairing effect on normal development. The mouse mutant weaver is characterized by cerebellar granule cell death, which is correlated by the lack of GM1 expression on the neuronal surface. On the other hand, inborn metabolic errors causing ganglioside accumulation in neurons (GM1 gangliosides) are correlated to an aberrant neurite outgrowth. A further appreciation of ganglioside action has been obtained either by adding gangliosides to neurons in culture or by treating animals during neuronal regeneration. It was found that these agents increased the rate and extent of sprouting of regenerating axons and enhanced neuronal differentiation and sprouting in vitro. Such effects were dependent upon the presence of the growth factor in the bathing medium; ganglioside incorporation, however, did not alter nerve growth factor (NGF) binding and internalization, indicating that some membrane events triggered by ganglioside incorporation may be relevant in neuronal differentiation and sprouting. More recently, we have obtained evidence showing that neurons from animals treated with gangliosides are more resistant to anoxia and ionic unbalances. It seems that ganglioside treatment prevents the decay of some key enzyme activity, such as Na+-K+-ATPase occurring after trauma. Indeed, the recent literature suggests that gangliosides may play an important role during development and, when injected into animals, enhance reparatory events in the central and peripheral nervous system
Reversibility and mode of action of Black Widow spider venom on the vertebrate neuromuscular junction
No full textBlack widow spider venom (BWSV) stimulates transmitter release and depletes synaptic vesicles from muscles bathed in a sodium free medium containing 1 mM EGTA. However, frog neuromuscular junctions treated with BWSV in glucosamine Ringer's and post-treated with antivenin recover normal function. This suggests that probably the permanent block of neuromuscular transmission is due to changes in permeability of the nerve ending plasma membrane to cations such as Na+. When BWSV is applied in a medium lacking divalent cations and containing 1 mM EGTA, in most of the cases no effect is observed. The authors found that this inhibition can be overcome in 3 ways: by adding divalent cations to the medium; by increasing the tonicity of the medium with sucrose; by raising the temperature of the medium. These results suggest that the lack of divalent cations influences the membrane fluidity. Moreover, in view of the report by Yahara and Kaimoto-Sameshima (1977) that hypertonic media induce capping of surface receptors in lymphocytes and thymocytes, the authors think that these data further support the hypothesis that BWSV stimulates release by a dual mode of action; namely, it increases the nerve ending permeability to cations and also stimulates release directly via a process of redistribution of membrane components, a process which may also inhibit vesicle recycling
Characterization of smooth muscle-like cells derived from TSC2 human renal angiomyolipoma and their phenotype reversion
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ENKEPHALIN MODULATION OF NEURAL TRANSMISSION IN THE CAT STELLATE GANGLION - PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF EXOGENOUS OPIATES
No full textNeural ganglionic transmission was studied in vivo in the cat, using closed chest anesthetized preparations. The right stellate ganglion and its branches were exposed retropleurally and prepared for electrical stimulation of pre- and postganglionic nerve fibers. The axillary artery was cannulated allowing direct administration of drugs in the arterial blood supplying the ganglion. Stimulation of postjunctional receptors could thus be obtained by local administration of selective agents. Local administration of nicotinic, muscarinic or histaminergic agents increased heart rate and blood pressure. Opiates were given either i.v. or locally through the axillary artery: we tested the effects of morphine, Leu-enkephalin (Leu-enk), Met-enkephalin (Met-enk), [d-ala2]-Met-enkephalinamide (DAME) and etorphine. When given locally, Leu-enk (from 10 μg). Met-enk (from 20 μg), DAME (from 5 μg) and etorphine (from 0.2 μg) inhibited tachycardia induced by preganglionic stimulation and reduced the amplitude of the compound action potential recorded from the postganglionic nerve. Morphine (10-200 μg) had no effect. On the other hand, tachycardia induced by postganglionic nerve stimulation was unaffected by opiates in the same experimental conditions. Intravenous administration of similar doses of opiates had no effect on ganglionic transmission. When tachycardia was induced by chemical stimulation of nicotinic (DMPP), muscarinic (McN-A-343-1 l) or histamine receptors in the stellate ganglia, opiates were still active in reducing the effect of these chemicals. These data provide evidence that exogenous opiates exert a depressing action on postsynaptic responses of sympathetic ganglia tested in vivo, although an additional action on presynaptic terminals is not excluded. As endogenous opiates are normally present in various sympathetic ganglia, including the stellate ganglion of the cat, it is possible that they play some modulatory role on ganglionic transmission in physiological conditions
Ganglioside treatment of neuropathy in diabetic mice
No full textDiabetic neuropathy in 180-day-old C57BL/Ks inbred mice is characterized by a marked reduction of nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and by axonal atrophy, as suggested by the decreased number of large diameter myelinated fibers. No demyelination or remyelination was observed. Ganglioside treatment from 150 to 180 days of age significantly improved the NCV and returned the fiber size distribution to control values
Plasticity in neuronal regeneration : implications for the role of exogenous gangliosides
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