sq-23377 and 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl-borate

The polyether antibiotic ionomycin is a common research tool employed to raise cytosolic Ca(2+) in almost any cell type. Although initially thought to directly cause physicochemical translocation of extracellular Ca(2+) into the cytosol, a number of studies have demonstrated that the mechanism of action is likely to be more complex, involving modulation of intrinsic Ca(2+) signaling pathways. In the present study we assessed the effect of ionomycin on primary cultures of murine cerebellar astrocytes. Ionomycin concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 10 μM triggered a biphasic increase in cytosolic Ca(2+), consisting of an initial peak and a subsequent sustained plateau. The response was dependent on concentration and exposure time. While the plateau phase was abolished in the absence of extracellular Ca(2+), the peak phase persisted. The peak amplitude could be lowered significantly by application of dantrolene, demonstrating involvement of Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+)-release (CICR). The plateau phase was markedly reduced when store-operated Ca(2+)-entry (SOCE) was blocked with 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate. Our results show that ionomycin directly affects internal Ca(2+) stores in astrocytes, causing release of Ca(2+) into the cytosol, which in turn triggers further depletion of the stores through CICR and subsequently activates SOCE. This mechanistic action of ionomycin is important to keep in mind when employing it as a pharmacological tool.

Topics: Animals; Astrocytes; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Channels, L-Type; Calcium Signaling; Cells, Cultured; Cerebellum; Cytosol; Ionomycin; Mice; Verapamil

This study was designed to analyze the effects of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK) inhibitor STO-609 (7-oxo-7H-benzimidazo[2,1-a]benz[de]isoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid) toward the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway because Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) Ialpha, known as a downstream CaMKK effector, has been recently shown to contribute to the AhR cascade. STO-609 failed to alter up-regulation of the AhR target CYP1A1 in response to the potent AhR ligand 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in MCF-7 cells. STO-609, used at a 25 muM concentration known to fully inhibit CaMKK activity, was surprisingly found to markedly induce CYP1A1 expression and activity by itself in MCF-7 cells; it similarly up-regulated various other AhR target genes in human macrophages. STO-609-related CYP1A1 induction was prevented by chemical inhibition or small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown expression of AhR. Moreover, STO-609 was demonstrated to physically interact with the ligand-binding domain of AhR, as assessed by TCDD binding competition assay, and to induce AhR translocation to the nucleus. As already reported for AhR agonists, STO-609 triggered the increase of [Ca2+](i) and activation of CaMKIalpha, whose inhibition through the use of the Ca2+ chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid-acetoxymethyl ester or the CaMK inhibitor KN-93 (2-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)]-N-(4-methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine), respectively, prevented STO-609-mediated CYP1A1 activity induction. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the CaMKK inhibitor STO-609 can act as an AhR ligand and, in this way, fully activates the Ca2+/CaMKIalpha/AhR cascade. Such data, therefore, make unlikely any contribution of CaMKK activity to the AhR pathway and, moreover, suggest that caution may be required when using STO-609 as a specific inhibitor of CaMKKs.

Topics: Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases; Benzimidazoles; Benzoflavones; Benzylamines; Boron Compounds; Calcium Signaling; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Kinase; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 1; Cell Line, Tumor; Chelating Agents; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1B1; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; Egtazic Acid; Enzyme Inhibitors; Gene Expression; Humans; Integrin beta Chains; Interleukin-8; Ionomycin; Macrophages; Naphthalimides; Phosphorylation; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; RNA, Small Interfering; Sulfonamides

Pregnancy and the follicular phase of the ovarian cycle show elevation of uterine blood flow and associated increases in uterine artery endothelium (UAE) endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) expression. Nonetheless, a role for increased NO production during pregnancy and the follicular phase has only been inferred by indirect measures. The recent development of a uterine artery endothelial cell model further suggests that pregnancy is associated with reprogramming of cell signaling, such that eNOS may become more Ca(2+) sensitive and be subject to regulation by Ca(2+)-independent kinases. This study describes for the first time the direct and simultaneous monitoring of NO production and intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in freshly isolated UAE from pregnant, follicular, and luteal sheep. The pharmacological agonists ionomycin (calcium ionophore) and thapsigargin (TG; endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) pump inhibitor) were used to maximally elevate [Ca(2+)](i) and fully activate eNOS as a measure of eNOS expression. NO production stimulated by ionomycin (5 microM) and TG (10 microM) were 1.95- and 2.05-fold, respectively, in pregnant-UAE and 1.34- and 1.37-fold in follicular-UAE compared with luteal-UAE. In contrast, the physiological agonist ATP (100 microM) stimulated a 3.43-fold increase in NO in pregnant-UAE and a 1.90-fold increase in follicular-UAE compared with luteal-UAE, suggesting that pregnancy and follicular phase enhance eNOS activation beyond changes in expression in vivo. 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (APB; an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor blocker) totally prevented the ATP-induced [Ca(2+)](i) response but only partially inhibited NO production. Thus pregnancy-enhanced eNOS activation in UAE is mediated through [Ca(2+)](i)-insensitive pathways as well as through a greater eNOS sensitivity to [Ca(2+)](i).

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Arteries; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Calcium-Transporting ATPases; Endothelium, Vascular; Estrous Cycle; Female; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; Ionomycin; Ionophores; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; Sheep; Thapsigargin; Uterus

A muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), DM1, expressed in the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster, has been stably expressed in a Drosophila S2 cell line (S2-DM1) and used to investigate spatiotemporal calcium changes following agonist activation. Carbamylcholine (CCh) and oxotremorine are potent agonists, whereas application of the vertebrate M1 mAChR agonist, McN-A-343, results in a weak response. Activation of S2-DM1 receptors using CCh resulted in an increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) that was biphasic. Two distinct calcium sources were found to contribute to calcium signaling: (1) internal stores that are sensitive to both thapsigargin and 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate and (2) capacitative calcium entry. Spatiotemporal imaging of individual S2-DM1 cells showed that the CCh-induced [Ca(2+)](i) transient resulted from a homogeneous calcium increase throughout the cell, indicative of calcium release from internal stores. In contrast, ionomycin induced the formation of a "calcium ring" at the cell periphery, consistent with external calcium influx.

Topics: Animals; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Signaling; Cell Line; Cholinergic Agonists; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drosophila melanogaster; Drug Interactions; Enzyme Inhibitors; Extracellular Space; Fura-2; Ionomycin; Ionophores; Receptors, Muscarinic; Thapsigargin; Time Factors

1. Agonists increase endothelial cell intracellular Ca(2+), in part, by capacitative entry, which is triggered by the filling state of intracellular Ca(2+) stores. It has been suggested that depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) stores either leads to a physical coupling between the ER and a plasma membrane channel, or results in production of an intracellular messenger which affects the gating of membrane channels. As an axis involving the IP(3) receptor has been implicated in a physical coupling mechanism the aim of this study was to examine the effects of the putative IP(3) receptor antagonists/modulators, 2 aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2APB) and xestospongin C, on endothelial cell Ca(2+) entry. 2. Studies were conducted in fura 2 loaded cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells and endothelial cells isolated from rat heart. 3. 2APB (30 - 300 microM) inhibited Ca(2+) entry induced by both agonists (ATP 1 microM, bradykinin 0.1 microM) and receptor-independent mechanisms (thapsigargin 1 microM, ionomycin 0.5 and 5 microM). 2APB did not diminish endothelial cell ATP-induced production of IP(3) nor effect in vitro binding of [(3)H]-IP(3) to an adrenal cortex binding protein. Capacitative Ca(2+) entry was also blocked by disruption of the actin cytoskeleton with cytochalasin (100 nM) while the initial Ca(2+) release phase was unaffected. 4. Similarly to 2APB, xestospongin C (3 - 10 microM) inhibited ATP-induced Ca(2+) release and capacitative Ca(2+) entry. Further, xestospongin C inhibited capacitative Ca(2+) entry induced by thapsigargin (1 microM) and ionomycin (0.5 microM). 5. The data are consistent with a mechanism of capacitative Ca(2+) entry in vascular endothelial cells which requires (a) IP(3) receptor binding and/or an event distal to the activation of the ER receptor and (b) a spatial relationship, dictated by the cytoskeleton, between Ca(2+) release and entry pathways.

Topics: Actins; Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Aorta; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Cattle; Cell Movement; Cells, Cultured; Cytoskeleton; Endothelium, Vascular; Enzyme Inhibitors; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; Ionomycin; Ionophores; Macrocyclic Compounds; Oxazoles; Rats; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; Stereoisomerism; Thapsigargin

In this study, we examined 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2APB) as an inhibitor of Ca(2+) influx in human platelets. 2APB was found to inhibit thrombin-mediated intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization rapidly in platelets incubated in the absence of extracellular Ca(2+). This result supports an intracellular action of 2APB on inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3))-receptor Ca(2+) channels. 2APB was without effect on the ability of thapsigargin to mobilize intracellular Ca(2+). This result suggests that the efflux of Ca(2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum mediated by thapsigargin is not via IP(3) Ca(2+) channels. However, 2APB was able to prevent the entry of Ca(2+) and Sr(2+) through thapsigargin-activated, store-operated Ca(2+) channels (SOCC). This result supports a direct inhibitory effect of 2APB on SOCC. 2APB was also able to block the entry of Sr(2+), Ba(2+), and Mn(2+) entry into unstimulated platelets, which suggests that 2APB was inhibiting the Ca(2+) influx channels directly. The capacity of 2APB to prevent Ca(2+) influx and Sr(2+) influx was rapid because it occurred immediately upon addition to the platelets. The inhibition of Ca(2+) and Sr(2+) influx by 2APB was similar to that seen with the cell-impermeable nonselective Ca(2+)-channel blocker La(3+) or the Ca(2+) chelator EGTA. Diphenylboronic anhydride and 2,2-diphenyltetrahydrofuran, two compounds that are structurally similar to 2APB, also inhibited Ca(2+) influx. It was concluded that 2APB was a rapid and effective direct inhibitor of SOCC in human platelets; as such, it cannot be used to support the involvement of IP(3) receptors in the activation of SOCC.

Topics: Barium; Biological Transport; Blood Platelets; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Humans; Ionomycin; Ionophores; Manganese; Strontium; Thapsigargin; Thrombin; Time

The coupling mechanism between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium ion (Ca2+) stores and plasma membrane (PM) store-operated channels (SOCs) is crucial to Ca2+ signaling but has eluded detection. SOCs may be functionally related to the TRP family of receptor-operated channels. Direct comparison of endogenous SOCs with stably expressed TRP3 channels in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells revealed that TRP3 channels differ in being store independent. However, condensed cortical F-actin prevented activation of both SOC and TRP3 channels, which suggests that ER-PM interactions underlie coupling of both channels. A cell-permeant inhibitor of inositol trisphosphate receptor (InsP3R) function, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate, prevented both receptor-induced TRP3 activation and store-induced SOC activation. It is concluded that InsP3Rs mediate both SOC and TRP channel opening and that the InsP3R is essential for maintaining coupling between store emptying and physiological activation of SOCs.

Topics: Actins; Boron Compounds; Calcium; Calcium Channels; Calcium Signaling; Carbachol; Cell Line; Cell Membrane; Diglycerides; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; Ionomycin; Macrocyclic Compounds; Marine Toxins; Oxazoles; Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; Strontium; Thapsigargin; Transfection; TRPC Cation Channels; Type C Phospholipases