Histamine alters cadherin-mediated sites of endothelial adhesion.

We tested the hypothesis that histamine alters the focal apposition of endothelial cells by acting on sites of cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Focal apposition was measured as the impedance of a cell-covered electrode, which was partitioned into a cell-matrix resistance, a cell-cell resistance, and membrane capacitance. Histamine causes an immediate, short-lived decrease in the impedance of an electrode covered with human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells. ECV304 cells are a line of spontaneously transformed HUVE cells that do not express the endothelial cadherin, cadherin-5. Histamine increased ECV304 cell calcium to 600 nM. Histamine did not increase myosin light chain phosphorylation of control or transfected ECV304 cells. ECV304 cells transfected with either E-cadherin or cadherin-5 on a dexamethasone-responsive plasmid (pLKneo) increased their cell-cell resistance when stimulated with dexamethasone, whereas ECV304 cells transfected with pLKneo-lacZ did not. Histamine did not affect the impedance of ECV304 cells transfected with pLKneo-lacZ. In contrast, histamine decreased the cell-cell resistance of ECV304 cells transfected with either pLKneo-E-cadherin or pLKneo-cadherin-5. From these data, we conclude that histamine acts on sites of cadherin-mediated cell-cell apposition.

Interaction of nucleotides with membrane-associated cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a Cl- channel that is regulated by cytosolic nucleotides and by cAMP-dependent phosphorylation. In excised membrane patches, CFTR Cl- channel activity requires hydrolyzable nucleotides and Mg2+, and is inhibited by ADP. We examined the interactions between CFTR and nucleotides using 8-azidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate (8-N3-ATP), a photoactivatable ATP analog. Because CFTR functions as a membrane ion channel, we studied CFTR in membranes of Sf9 insect cells. We found that [alpha-32P]8-N3ATP specifically photolabeled CFTR, with half-maximal labeling at 10 microM 8-N3ATP in the presence of Mg2+ and 100 microM in the absence of Mg2+. The 8-N3ATP also substituted for ATP in activating CFTR Cl- channels, indicating that it interacts with the active site(s). Both ATP and GTP prevented photolabeling with half-maximal inhibition at 1 mM. ADP and adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) prevented photolabeling but at much higher concentrations, whereas AMP did not inhibit photolabeling at concentrations of up to 100 mM. Phosphorylation of CFTR was not a prerequisite for nucleotide binding. These results demonstrate that CFTR interacts directly with nucleotides at concentrations that regulate CFTR Cl- channel activity.