Functional pharmacology of H1 histamine receptors expressed in mouse preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Histamine H1 receptors are highly expressed in hypothalamic neurons and mediate histaminergic modulation of several brain-controlled physiological functions, such as sleep, feeding and thermoregulation. In spite of the fact that the mouse is used as an experimental model for studying histaminergic signalling, the pharmacological characteristics of mouse H1 receptors have not been studied. In particular, selective and potent H1 receptor agonists have not been identified. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Ca(2+) imaging using fura-2 fluorescence signals and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were carried out in mouse preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons in culture. KEY RESULTS: The H1 receptor antagonists mepyramine and trans-triprolidine potently antagonized the activation by histamine of these receptors with IC50 values of 0.02 and 0.2 µM respectively. All H1 receptor agonists studied had relatively low potency at the H1 receptors expressed by these neurons. Methylhistaprodifen and 2-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)histamine had full-agonist activity with potencies similar to that of histamine. In contrast, 2-pyridylethylamine and betahistine showed only partial agonist activity and lower potency than histamine. The histamine receptor agonist, 6-[2-(4-imidazolyl)ethylamino]-N-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)heptanecarboxamide (HTMT) had no agonist activity at the H1 receptors H1 receptors expressed by mouse preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons but displayed antagonist activity. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Methylhistaprodifen and 2-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)histamine were identified as full agonists of mouse H1 receptors. These results also indicated that histamine H1 receptors in mice exhibited a pharmacological profile in terms of agonism, significantly different from those of H1 receptors expressed in other species.

Loss of histaminergic modulation of thermoregulation and energy homeostasis in obese mice.

Histamine acts centrally to increase energy expenditure and reduce body weight by mechanisms not fully understood. It has been suggested that in the obese state hypothalamic histamine signaling is altered. Previous studies have also shown that histamine acting in the preoptic area controls thermoregulation. We aimed to study the influence of preoptic histamine on body temperature and energy homeostasis in control and obese mice. Activating histamine receptors in the preoptic area by increasing the concentration of endogenous histamine or by local injection of specific agonists induced an elevation of core body temperature and decreased respiratory exchange ratio (RER). In addition, the food intake was significantly decreased. The hyperthermic effect was associated with a rapid increase in mRNA expression of uncoupling proteins in thermogenic tissues, the most pronounced being that of uncoupling protein (UCP) 1 in brown adipose tissue and of UCP2 in white adipose tissue. In diet-induced obese mice histamine had much diminished hyperthermic effects as well as reduced effect on RER. Similarly, the ability of preoptic histamine signaling to increase the expression of uncoupling proteins was abolished. We also found that the expression of mRNA encoding the H1 receptor subtype in the preoptic area was significantly lower in obese animals. These results indicate that histamine signaling in the preoptic area modulates energy homeostasis by regulating body temperature, metabolic parameters and food intake and that the obese state is associated with a decrease in neurotransmitter's influence.

Interleukin-1beta induces hyperpolarization and modulates synaptic inhibition in preoptic and anterior hypothalamic neurons.

Most of the inflammatory effects of the cytokine interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) are mediated by induction of cyclooxygenase (COX)2 and the subsequent synthesis and release of prostaglandin E2. This transcription-dependent process takes 45-60 min, but IL-1beta, a well-characterized endogenous pyrogen also exerts faster neuronal actions in the preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus. Here, we have studied the fast (1-3 min) signaling by IL-1beta using whole-cell patch clamp recordings in preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus neurons. Exposure to IL-1beta (0.1-1 nM) hyperpolarized a subset ( approximately 20%) of preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus neurons, decreased their input resistance and reduced their firing rate. These effects were associated with an increased frequency of bicuculline-sensitive spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents and putative miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents, strongly suggesting a presynaptic mechanism of action. These effects require the type 1 interleukin 1 receptor (IL-1R1), and the adapter protein myeloid differentiation primary response protein (MyD88), since they were not observed in cultures obtained from IL-1R1 (-/-) or from MyD88 (-/-) mice. Ceramide, a second messenger of the IL-1R1-dependent fast signaling cascade, is produced by IL-1R1-MyD88-mediated activation of the neutral sphingomyelinase. C2-ceramide, its cell penetrating analog, also increased the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents in a subset of cells. Both IL-1beta and ceramide reduced the delayed rectifier and the A-type K(+) currents in preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus neurons. The latter effect may account in part for the increased spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current frequency as suggested by experiments with the A-type K(+) channel blockers 4-aminopyridine. Taken together our data suggest that IL-1beta inhibits the activity of preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus neurons by increasing the presynaptic release of GABA.

Electrophysiological properties and thermosensitivity of mouse preoptic and anterior hypothalamic neurons in culture.

Responses of mouse preoptic and anterior hypothalamic neurons to variations of temperature are key elements in regulating the setpoint of homeotherms. The goal of the present work was to assess the relevance of culture preparations for investigating the cellular mechanisms underlying thermosensitivity in hypothalamic cells. Our working hypothesis was that some of the main properties of preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons in culture are similar to those reported by other authors in slice preparations. Indeed, cultured preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons share many of the physiological and morphological properties of neurons in hypothalamic slices. They display heterogenous dendritic arbors and somatic shapes. Most of them are GABAergic and their activity is synaptically driven by the activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid/kainate receptors. Active membrane properties include a depolarizing "sag" in response to hyperpolarization, and a low threshold spike, which is present in a majority of cells and is generated by T-type Ca2+ channels. In a fraction of the cells, the low threshold spike repeats rhythmically, either spontaneously, or in response to depolarization. The background synaptic noise in cultured neurons is characterized by the presence of numerous postsynaptic potentials which can be easily distinguished from the baseline, thus providing an opportunity for assessing their possible roles in thermosensitivity. An unexpected finding was that GABA-A receptors can generate both hyper- and depolarizing postsynaptic potentials in the same neuron. About 20% of the spontaneously firing preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurons are warm-sensitive. Warming (32-41 degrees C) depolarizes some cells, a phenomenon which is Na+-dependent and tetrodotoxin-insensitive. The increased firing rate of warm-sensitive cells in response to warming can be prepotential and/or synaptically driven. Overall, our data suggest that a warm-sensitive phenotype is already developed in cultured cells. Therefore, and despite obvious differences in their networks, cultured and slice preparations of hypothalamic neurons can complement each other for further studies of warm-sensitivity at the cellular and molecular level.

Kinetics of modulation of tetrodotoxin-sensitive and tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channels by tetramethrin and deltamethrin.

Pyrethroid insecticides may be classified into two groups: type I pyrethroids lack a cyano group in the alpha-position, whereas type II pyrethroids have a cyano group. Both types prolong the sodium channel current thereby causing hyperexcitability, yet details of modulation of current kinetics remain largely to be seen. The mechanism of pyrethroid modulation of sodium currents was studied by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique with rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. Both deltamethrin (type II) and tetramethrin (type I) acted on both tetrodotoxin-sensitive and tetrodotoxin-resistant channels in a qualitatively similar manner and some quantitative differences were derived from different kinetics. During repetitive stimulation in the presence of deltamethrin, leak current increased due to accumulation of prolonged tail currents, explaining the apparent use-dependent modification. For tetramethrin-modified channels, such accumulation was much less because of faster kinetics. Slowing of the kinetics of sodium channel activation by deltamethrin was revealed even after the fast inactivation had been removed by papain. The kinetics of deltamethrin-modified sodium channels was fitted better by the equation that contained two activation components than that with one component. Deltamethrin caused a large shift of the conductance-voltage curve in the direction of hyperpolarization. Cell-attached patch-clamp experiments revealed that deltamethrin had much smaller mobility in the cell membrane than tetramethrin. It was concluded that the apparent use dependence of deltamethrin modification of sodium channels was due primarily to the accumulation of prolonged tail currents during repetitive stimulation and that the sodium channel activation mechanism is the major target of pyrethroids.

Membrane stretch affects gating modes of a skeletal muscle sodium channel.

The alpha subunit of the human skeletal muscle Na(+) channel recorded from cell-attached patches yielded, as expected for Xenopus oocytes, two current components that were stable for tens of minutes during 0.2 Hz stimulation. Within seconds of applying sustained stretch, however, the slower component began decreasing and, depending on stretch intensity, disappeared in 1-3 min. Simultaneously, the faster current increased. The resulting fast current kinetics and voltage sensitivity were indistinguishable from the fast components 1) left after 10 Hz depolarizations, and 2) that dominated when alpha subunit was co-expressed with human beta1 subunit. Although high frequency depolarization-induced loss of slow current was reversible, the stretch-induced slow-to-fast conversion was irreversible. The conclusion that stretch converted a single population of alpha subunits from an abnormal slow to a bona fide fast gating mode was confirmed by using gigaohm seals formed without suction, in which fast gating was originally absent. For brain Na(+) channels, co-expressing G proteins with the channel alpha subunit yields slow gating. Because both stretch and beta1 subunits induced the fast gating mode, perhaps they do so by minimizing alpha subunit interactions with G proteins or with other regulatory molecules available in oocyte membrane. Because of the possible involvement of oocyte molecules, it remains to be determined whether the Na(+) channel alpha subunit was directly or secondarily susceptible to bilayer tension.

Potent modulation of tetrodotoxin-sensitive and tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channels by the type II pyrethroid deltamethrin.

In both tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) and tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) sodium channels, deltamethrin greatly prolonged the current during step depolarizing pulse and caused a large and prolonged slow tail current. The activation was shifted by 20 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction. These changes in channel kinetics account for the prolongation of action potential, membrane depolarization and spontaneous discharges in the deltamethrin-treated neurons. The slow tail current of TTX-S sodium channels rose and decayed slowly, showing a hook. By contrast, the slow tail current of TTX-R channels occurred quickly upon step repolarization. The slow tail current in deltamethrin-treated cells developed slowly during a depolarizing pulse, with a time constant in the order of several milliseconds. The percentages of sodium channels modified by deltamethrin were measured as a function of the deltamethrin concentration. The EC50 values were 0.53 microM and 0.37 microM for TTX-S and TTX-R sodium channels, respectively. However, when compared at the level of 5% modification, the potency of deltamethrin for TTX-R channels was 40 to 50 times higher than that for TTX-S channels. Deltamethrin-induced large and prolonged tail current was hardly reversed after prolonged washout with drug-free solution. However, after application of tetramethrin, it was converted into a much shorter tail current. Washout with solution devoid of tetramethrin and deltamethrin resulted in rapid reappearance of the deltamethrin-type tail current. These results suggest that the deltamethrin and tetramethrin share a binding site on the sodium channel and that the slow onset and offset of deltamethrin action are controlled by the rates at which deltamethrin moves and unbinds from the membrane lipid phase rather than by the rate of deltamethrin binding to the sodium channel site.