Alpha-2 adrenoceptors on nerves and muscles of rat uterus.

To test the hypothesis that functional postsynaptic alpha-2 adrenoceptors exist in rat myometrium, we examined whether specific binding sites for [3H]rauwolscine were present on microsomal membranes from myometrium of nonpregnant, day 16 pregnant and delivering rats and whether an alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist has functional effects. The myometrium of rats at term undergoes a physiological denervation, confirmed in this study by ultrastructural examination of uterine samples and by [3H]saxitoxin binding studies. Binding sites for rauwolscine of similar Kd (11-15 nM) were present in all groups of myometrium and were localized on plasma membranes. There was no significant change in the density of rauwolscine binding sites in membranes from day 16 animals compared to nonpregnant ones, but a significant fall (38%) from these values at term. Strips of uterine circular or longitudinal muscle from nonpregnant, day-16 or day-22 pregnant rats failed to respond to the selective alpha-2 agonist, BHT-920, in the presence of propranolol; i.e., BHT-920 neither caused contraction nor inhibited contractions induced by oxytocin. BHT-920 did not affect the inhibitory effects of isoproterenol which were antagonized by propranolol. However, it antagonized contractions to norepinephrine in the presence of propranolol with a pKB value of 5.6 to 5.7. These contractions were phentolamine-sensitive. BHT-920 displaced rauwolscine from binding to all groups of myometria (IC50 = 2 to 3 x 10(-6) M) and displaced prazosin (Kd = 0.65 nM) from binding to myometria of nonpregnant rats (IC50 value congruent to 2 x 10(-4) M). Phentolamine also displaced rauwolscine from binding (IC50 = 2 x 10(-8) M). 5-Hydroxytryptamine displaced rauwolscine from binding only at higher concentrations (IC50 greater than 10(-5) M). We conclude that binding sites for alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonists in myometrial microsomes were located primarily on smooth muscle plasma membrane. A smooth muscle alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist appeared to occupy a site on muscle with the same affinity as it displayed toward rauwolscine binding site and competitively inhibited effects of an alpha-1 agonist. Our data suggest that alpha-2 adrenoceptor binding sites may exist on smooth muscle without coupling to contractile function, but their occupancy competitively prevents occupancy of alpha-1 agonist receptor activation sites.

Morphology and contractile properties of smooth muscle cells isolated from the dog carotid artery.

Collagenase and elastase treatment was used to isolate vascular smooth muscle cells from canine carotid artery. Their structure and function were compared to those in situ. Morphological studies showed that these cells when relaxed in situ were 120-133 micron mean length, connected by numerous typical gap junctions, covered by a basal lamina and like other smooth muscles in structure. After isolation, the median length of single cells was 82 micron. There was structural evidence of some contraction and the basal lamina was absent, but many structures were preserved. Cell clumps of 2-15 cells were often found; cells in such clumps often appeared to be all relaxed or all contracted. Isolated single cells contracted to KCl elevation or to norepinephrine up to 49 or 37% of initial length, EC50 values for contraction by norepinephrine and KCl were 0.4 microM and 40 mM, respectively; norepinephrine maximum contraction was about 35% less than that for KCl. Lightly loaded spirally cut strips from carotid artery were also studied. EC50 values for norepinephrine and KCl were 4 microM and 40 mM and unaffected by removal of the endothelium. Again, maximum contractions to norepinephrine were less than those to KCl. Contraction speeds were similar for isolated cells and intact strips. However, relaxation of maximally contracted isolated cells did not occur within 10 min. We conclude that canine carotid artery smooth muscle cells can be isolated with little structural or functional damage. The large number of gap junctions between cells and the tendency for cells to be isolated in small groups connected by gap junctions suggests that these cells would be useful for study of cell-to-cell coupling between arterial muscle cells.

Calcium channels in isolated cells and strips of longitudinal muscle of rat myometrium.

The properties of Ca2+ channels in strips and single muscle cells of longitudinal muscle of estrogen-dominated rat myometrium were studied under the effects of elevation of K+ concentration, the partial channel agonist Bay K 8644, and nitrendipine. In isolated strips in 0.5 mM Ca2+, Bay K 8644 (pD2 = 7.8-8.0) lowered the threshold for and enhanced the contractions in response to an elevation of K+ concentration, including the maximum response to K+ elevation alone. Bay K 8644 alone in concentrations up through 10(-6) M did not initiate contractions in 0.5 mM Ca2+ solutions. At higher concentrations (10(-5) M), Bay K 8644 behaved as an antagonist to contractions induced by elevation of K+. In isolated cells 10(-7) M Bay K 8644 enhanced the shortenings to elevated K+ and lowered the threshold K+ concentration required. Also no significant contraction occurred with 10(-7) M Bay K 8644 at normal K+ concentration. In contrast with its effect in isolated strips, no significant increase in maximum shortening (to 60 mM K+) was observed, possibly because cells without a mechanical load were maximally shortened by K+ alone. From these studies, we conclude that Ca2+ channels of isolated strips and cells of rat myometrium behave similarly and have similar properties to those of other smooth muscles in their interactions with elevation of K+, nitrendipine, and Bay K 8644.

Calcium and contractions of isolated smooth muscle cells from rat myometrium.

Smooth muscle cells were isolated from estrogenized rat myometrium by collagenase digestion. Electron microscopic examination and measurement of cell lengths by image-splitting micrometry were carried out after fixation with acrolein. Mean lengths of cells before and after isolation were 81.7 and 66.9 micron, respectively. Responses of cells were compared with contractions of isolated strips recorded isometrically. Effects of carbachol and KCl were examined in 2 mM Ca, 2 mM Ca + 4 mM EGTA, and 2 mM Ca + 10(-8) M nitrendipine solution. Carbachol and KCl produced concentration-dependent shortening of isolated cells maximal at 30 s after addition. The concentrations of carbachol required to produce shortenings were about 100-fold less than those required to produce isometric contractions; but no major difference was observed in the concentration dependence of cell shortening and isometric contraction produced by potassium-induced depolarization. In 2 mM Ca solution, there was a phasic response, followed by a tonic response such that more than 50% of maximum cell shortening was maintained for 10 min. However, in 2 mM Ca + 4 mM EGTA or 10(-8) M nitrendipine, the tonic contraction was abolished and cells rapidly relaxed after 30 s. If carbachol was added to cells after varying times in the EGTA-containing solution, the ability to initiate a contraction declined exponentially with a half-time of 160 s. Effects of depolarization by KCl were examined in 2 mM Ca plus nitrendipine and 2 mM Ca + 4 mM EGTA solution. Shortening occurred in 2 mM Ca solution by depolarization but not if nitrendipine was added. Though shortening was not observed in 2 mM Ca + 4 mM EGTA solution by KCl, subsequent addition of carbachol induced shortening. These results suggested that there was an intracellular Ca store site from which Ca was released by carbachol and which was not affected by depolarization in the absence of external Ca. No evidence was obtained that the contraction persists in Ca2+-free medium in isolated cells, which is in agreement with previous findings in small muscle strips in which only a similar transient response was obtained.

Effect of digitonin on rat myometrium subcellular membrane fractions.

Isopycnic centrifugation experiments using sucrose density gradients showed that in digitonin-treated microsomes the distribution of the plasma membrane (PM) marker 5'-nucleotidase was shifted to higher densities. The treatment also caused similar but less pronounced changes in the distribution of protein, the putative endoplasmic reticulum (ER) marker NADPH-dependent cytochrome c reductase, and the inner mitochondrial marker cytochrome c oxidase. Similar experiments using more purified membrane fractions showed that the digitonin treatment led to a comparable increase in the densities of the fractions N1 and N2 previously described as subfractions of plasma membrane and to considerably less increase in the density of the fraction N3B which is enriched in the endoplasmic reticulum and the inner mitochondrial markers. Digitonin inhibited the ATP-dependent Ca uptake by the N1 fraction in a concentration-dependent manner (I50 = 0.3 mg/mL). Digitonin (0.5 mg/mL) inhibited the ATP-dependent azide-insensitive Ca uptake by all the fractions. The results support the hypothesis that (a) N1 and N2 are subfractions of plasma membrane, and (b) ATP-dependent azide-insensitive Ca uptake in rat myometrium is a property of plasma membranes.

Smooth muscle membrane vesicle orientation: a study on intactness and sidedness of rat myometrium plasma membrane vesicles.

Plasma membrane vesicles of rat myometrium were prepared in media containing 240 mM sucrose. The vesicles were exposed to isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic sucrose concentrations, fixed, sectioned, and studied using the electron microscope. The vesicles fixed in isotonic media were circular in appearance. Vesicles fixed in hypertonic media were distorted and showed a reduced volume to surface ratio consistent with the hypothesis that greater than 80% of the vesicles were osmotically active to sucrose. Cationized ferritin binding studies and Ca binding and release studies were also consistent with this finding. Exposure to hypotonic media also yielded membranes with distorted profiles indicating that they had been ruptured. [3H]Sucrose trapping experiments revealed that the vesicles had an internal volume of 1.20-1.44 mL/g protein. Hypotonic shock treatment reduced this intravesicular volume to 0.20-0.28 mL/g protein. The hypotonic shock treatment also led to enhanced galactose oxidase catalyzed Na3B3H4 labelling of the membranes and to increased K+-activated ouabain-sensitive p-nitrophenyl phosphatase activity. The enhancement was the same (55 +/- 10%) in the various membrane preparations for both the parameters. The data are interpreted to conclude that the rat myometrium plasma membrane vesicles consisted of 20% broken vesicles and equal proportions of intact vesicles of inside-out and rightside-out orientations.

Characteristics of calcium transport and binding by rat myometrium plasma membrane subfractions.

A gradient has been designed to yield two subfractions of plasma membrane vesicles from rat myometrium, a low buoyant density (8-24% sucrose) fraction N1 richer in 5'-nucleotidase and a higher buoyant density (24-30% sucrose) fraction N2, instead of a previously described fraction F1. Both N1 and N2 had very low activities of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and succinate-cytochrome c reductase. Electron micrographs of thin sections of N1 showed clear vesicles, whereas N2 consisted of vesicles with electron-dense bodies attached to them. These plasma membrane vesicles can actively take up Ca. The active uptake of Ca was potentiated by oxalate and phosphate and abolished by the Ca ionophore A23187. Dilution of actively loaded vesicles in isotonic media containing EGTA led to loss of a small proportion of the stored Ca instantaneously and the remainder more slowly in a biphasic manner. Dilution in hypotonic media with EGTA led to a release of a much larger proportion of the accumulated Ca. A23187 at high concentrations (10 microM) caused a release of all the sequestered Ca whether the active Ca uptake had been carried out in the presence or in the absence of oxalate. A23187, 0.5 microM, released all the sequestered Ca from the vesicles that were actively loaded in the absence of oxalate, but only 37% when the vesicles were actively loaded with Ca in the presence of oxalate. Comparison of the composite plasma membrane fraction F1 (8-30% sucrose) and the subfractions N1 and N2 showed that they had different capacities for Ca uptake in the presence and absence of ATP. An attempt has been made to analyze the active Ca-uptake data in terms of various Ca pools.

Role of endogenous prostaglandins in regulating the tone of opossum lower esophageal sphincter in vivo.

The role of prostaglandins in maintenance of basal myogenic tone of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) of opossum has been studied in vivo. Intra-arterial infusion of arachidonic acid decreased LES tone, and this was inhibited by intravenous indomethacin (IDM) or intra-arterial 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETA). Alone these drugs did not reduce LES tone except transiently. In addition they did not affect relaxation of the LES to distention of a balloon located proximal to it or inhibit the "off" contractions of esophageal body and LES pressure which followed balloon deflation. Spontaneous oscillations of LES pressure were increased with IDM. Thus prostaglandin synthesis plays no essential role in maintenance of resting LES tone or in functioning of non-adrenergic inhibitory nerves in the esophagus in vivo. Endogenous inhibitory prostaglandins might reduce LES tone if synthesized in increased amounts.

Prostaglandins and myogenic control of tension in lower esophageal sphincter in vitro.

Active tension is produced by the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) of North American opossum in vitro by a myogenic mechanism. Strips of LES, but not those from the esophageal body, contracted to prostaglandin (PG)F2 alpha, stable expoxymethano derivatives of PGH2 and to thromboxane B2. Stable endoperoxides were more than 500 times more potent than PGF2 alpha. PGI2 and 6-keto PGF1 alpha were weak relaxants of LES strips. LES strips transformed arachidonic acid into contractile substances. This transformation was prevented by agents which interfere with PG synthesis by inhibiting cyclo-oxygenase [indomethacin (IDM), 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETA) or thromboxane synthetase [imidazole]. Tranylcypromine 500 microgram/ml also inhibited contractions to arachidonic acid. These agents also reduced muscle tone, so that endogenous PG formation may contribute to active tension in the LES. ETA and IDM increased tone before inhibiting it, and this effect was prevented by prior treatment with ETA or imidazole. There may also be an endogenous PG which inhibits LES tone. The possibility that this may be PGI2 is discussed.

Prostaglandins and tetrodotoxin-insensitive relaxation of opossum lower esophageal sphincter.

Field stimulation with pulses of 0.5 or 5 ms relaxed isolated strips of lower esophageal sphincter (LES) of the opossum; only responses to 0.5-ms pulses were inhibited by tetrodotoxin. Black widow spider venom prevented relaxation to both stimuli; thus both stimuli may release nonadrenergic inhibitory mediator. Isoproterenol, but not PGEs or ATP, was a consistent relaxant of LES. PGF2alpha (approximately 1 microgram/ml) and stable endoperoxides (approximately 10 ng/ml) stimulated LES muscle. Doses of indomethacin (IDM) or 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETA), which inhibited contractions to arachidonic acid increased then abolished LES tone, inhibited relaxations to 5-ms pulses and less effectively to 0.5-ms pulses. Inhibition of relaxation preceded loss of tone. Tone could be restored by carbachol, PGEs, or PGF2alpha and relaxation after IDM but not ETA was also restored. Prostaglandins may participate in functioning of nonadrenergic inhibitory nerves and in maintaining sphincter tone. Cells that did not appear to be smooth muscle were in gap junction contact with smooth muscles and closely apposed to nerves with small agranular vesicles. A role for these structures, which are postulated to be interstitial cells, in tetrodotoxin-insensitive prostaglandin-related release of nonadrenergic inhibitory mediator was proposed.