Crosstalk between protein kinases A and C regulates sea urchin sperm motility.

Fertilization, a crucial event for species preservation, in sea urchins, as in many other organisms, requires sperm motility regulation. In Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sea urchins, speract, a sperm chemoattractant component released to seawater from the outer egg layer, attracts sperm after binding to its receptor in the sperm flagellum. Previous experiments performed in demembranated sperm indicated that motility regulation in these cells involved protein phosphorylation mainly due to the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). However, little information is known about the involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) in this process. In this work, using intact S. purpuratus sea urchin sperm, we show that: (i) the levels of both phosphorylated PKA (PKA substrates) and PKC (PKC substrates) substrates change between immotile, motile and speract-stimulated sperm, and (ii) the non-competitive PKA (H89) and PKC (chelerythrine) inhibitors diminish the circular velocity of sperm and alter the phosphorylation levels of PKA substrates and PKC substrates, while the competitive inhibitors Rp-cAMP and bisindolylmaleimide (BIM) do not. Altogether, our results show that both PKA and PKC participate in sperm motility regulation through a crosstalk in the signalling pathway. These results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms that govern motility in sea urchin sperm.

Thallium-sensitive fluorescent assay reveals loperamide as a new inhibitor of the potassium channel Kv10.1.

BACKGROUND: Ion channels have been proposed as therapeutic targets for different types of malignancies. One of the most studied ion channels in cancer is the voltage-gated potassium channel ether-à-go-go 1 or Kv10.1. Various studies have shown that Kv10.1 expression induces the proliferation of several cancer cell lines and in vivo tumor models, while blocking or silencing inhibits proliferation. Kv10.1 is a promising target for drug discovery modulators that could be used in cancer treatment. This work aimed to screen for new Kv10.1 channel modulators using a thallium influx-based assay. METHODS: Pharmacological effects of small molecules on Kv10.1 channel activity were studied using a thallium-based fluorescent assay and patch-clamp electrophysiological recordings, both performed in HEK293 stably expressing the human Kv10.1 potassium channel. RESULTS: In thallium-sensitive fluorescent assays, we found that the small molecules loperamide and amitriptyline exert a potent inhibition on the activity of the oncogenic potassium channel Kv10.1. These results were confirmed by electrophysiological recordings, which showed that loperamide and amitriptyline decreased the amplitude of Kv10.1 currents in a dose-dependent manner. Both drugs could be promising tools for further studies. CONCLUSIONS: Thallium-sensitive fluorescent assay represents a reliable methodological tool for the primary screening of different molecules with potential activity on Kv10.1 channels or other K+ channels.

Heterogeneity of neutrophils in arterial hypertension.

Cellular heterogeneity and diversity are recognized to contribute to the functions of neutrophils under homeostatic and pathological conditions. We previously suggested that the chronic inflammatory responses associated with hypertension (HTN) are related to the participation of different subpopulations of neutrophils. Two populations of neutrophils can be obtained by density gradient centrifugation: normal-density neutrophils (NDN) and low-density neutrophils (LDN). However, the lack of standardized functional protocols has limited phenotypic characterization and functional comparisons of LDN and NDN. Based on their capability to incorporate Na+, maturity and activation stage, we characterized NDN and LDN in blood samples from ten patients with HTN and ten healthy individuals (HI) using flow cytometry. We compared the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and levels of apoptosis in NDN and LDN. In general, the NDN and LDN subpopulations from patients with HTN exhibited higher levels of sodium influx and ROS, and lower levels of apoptosis than the corresponding NDN and LDN subsets from HI. Transmission electron microscopy revealed NDN and LDN from patients with HTN exhibited alterations to mitochondrial morphology and fewer cytoplasmic granules than the corresponding HI subpopulations. Our results indicate both the NDN and LDN subpopulations enhance the effects of inflammation that contribute to the pathophysiology of HTN. Further detailed studies are required to characterize the events during ontogeny of the myeloid lineage that result in the diverse phenotypic characteristics of each subpopulation of LDN and NDN.

Phosphorylation of NMDA receptors by cyclin B/CDK1 modulates calcium dynamics and mitosis.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) are glutamate-gated calcium channels named after their artificial agonist. NMDAR are implicated in cell proliferation under normal and pathophysiological conditions. However, the role of NMDAR during mitosis has not yet been explored in individual cells. We found that neurotransmitter-evoked calcium entry via endogenous NMDAR in cortical astrocytes was transient during mitosis. The same occurred in HEK293 cells transfected with the NR1/NR2A subunits of NMDAR. This transient calcium entry during mitosis was due to phosphorylation of the first intracellular loop of NMDAR (S584 of NR1 and S580 of NR2A) by cyclin B/CDK1. Expression of phosphomimetic mutants resulted in transient calcium influx and enhanced NMDAR inactivation independent of the cell cycle phase. Phosphomimetic mutants increased entry of calcium in interphase and generated several alterations during mitosis: increased mitotic index, increased number of cells with lagging chromosomes and fragmentation of pericentriolar material. In summary, by controlling cytosolic calcium, NMDAR modulate mitosis and probably cell differentiation/proliferation. Our results suggest that phosphorylation of NMDAR by cyclin B/CDK1 during mitosis is required to preserve mitotic fidelity. Altering the modulation of the NMDAR by cyclin B/CDK1 may conduct to aneuploidy and cancer.

Contribution of Automated Technologies to Ion Channel Drug Discovery.

Automated technologies are now resolving the historical relegation that ion channels have endured as targets for the new drug discovery and development global efforts. The richness and adequacy of functional assay methodologies, remarkably fluorescence-based detection of ions fluxes and patch-clamp electrophysiology recording of ionic currents, are now automated and increasingly employed for the analysis of ion channel activity. While the former is currently the most commonly applied, the latter is finally reaching the throughput capacity to be engaged in the primary screening of chemical libraries conformed by hundreds of thousands of compounds. The use of automated instrumentation for the study of ion channel functionality (and dysfunctionality), particularly in the search for novel pharmacological agents with therapeutic purposes, has now reached out beyond the industrial setting, its original natural enclave, and is making its way into a growing number of academic labs and core facilities. The present chapter reviews the increasing contributions accomplished by a variety of different key automated technologies which have revolutionized the strategies to approach the discovery and development of new drugs targeting ion channels.

Soluble adenylyl cyclase of sea urchin spermatozoa.

Fertilization, a key step in sexual reproduction, requires orchestrated changes in cAMP concentrations. It is notable that spermatozoa (sperm) are among the cell types with extremely high adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity. As production and consumption of this second messenger need to be locally regulated, the discovery of soluble AC (sAC) has broadened our understanding of how such cells deal with these requirements. In addition, because sAC is directly regulated by HCO(3)(-) it is able to translate CO2/HCO(3)(-)/pH changes into cAMP levels. Fundamental sperm functions such as maturation, motility regulation and the acrosome reaction are influenced by cAMP; this is especially true for sperm of the sea urchin (SU), an organism that has been a model in the study of fertilization for more than 130 years. Here we summarize the discovery and properties of SU sperm sAC, and discuss its involvement in sperm physiology. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The role of soluble adenylyl cyclase in health and disease.

Certain Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sperm mitochondrial proteins co-purify with low density detergent-insoluble membranes and are PKA or PKC-substrates possibly involved in sperm motility regulation.

BACKGROUND: Sea urchin sperm motility is regulated by Speract, a sperm-activating peptide (SAP) secreted from the outer egg coat. Upon binding to its receptor in the sperm flagellum, Speract induces a series of ionic and metabolic changes in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus spermatozoa that regulate their motility. Among these events, protein phosphorylation is one of the most relevant and evidence indicates that some proteins of the Speract signaling cascade localize in low density detergent-insoluble membranes (LD-DIM). METHODS: LD-DIM-derived proteins from immotile, motile or Speract-stimulated S. purpuratus sperm were resolved in 2-D gels and the PKA and PKC substrates detected with specific antibodies were identified by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Differential PKA and PKC substrate phosphorylation levels among the LD-DIM isolated from sperm in different motility conditions were found and identified by mass spectrometry as: ATP synthase, creatine kinase, NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) flavoprotein 2, succinyl-CoA ligase and the voltage-dependent anion channel 2 (VDAC2), which are mitochondrial proteins, as well as, the cAMP-dependent protein kinase type II regulatory (PKA RII) subunit, Tubulin ß chain and Actin Cy I changed their phosphorylation state. CONCLUSIONS: Some mitochondrial proteins regulated by PKA or PKC may influence sea urchin sperm motility. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The fact that a high percentage (66%) of the PKA or PKC substrates identified in LD-DIM are mitochondrial proteins suggests that the phosphorylation of these proteins modulates sea urchin sperm motility via Speract stimulation by providing sufficient energy to sperm physiology. Those mitochondrial proteins are indeed PKA- or PKC-substrates in the sea urchin spermatozoa.