Browsing by Subject "Protein kinase A"

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    The cAMP transduction cascade mediates the prostaglandin E2 enhancement of the capsaicin-elicited current in rat sensory neurons: whole-cell and single-channel studies
    (Society for Neuroscience, 1998-08-15) Lopshire, John C.; Nicol, Grant D.; Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine
    Treatment with proinflammatory prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) produced a transient sensitization of whole-cell currents elicited by the vanilloid capsaicin. The intracellular signaling pathways that mediate the initiation of this PGE2-induced sensitization of the capsaicin-elicited current in rat sensory neurons are not well established. Treatment with either forskolin (100 nM to 10 microM) or membrane-permeant analogs of cAMP, 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) and chlorphenylthio-cAMP (10 microM to 1 mM), transiently sensitized neuronal responses elicited by capsaicin in a manner analogous to that produced by PGE2. The duration of sensitization was lengthened with increasing concentrations of forskolin; however, higher concentrations of 8-Br-cAMP or chlorphenylthio-cAMP led to a shortening of sensitization. The inactive analog of forskolin, dideoxy-forskolin, had no effect on capsaicin responses. Inclusion of the inhibitor of protein kinase A in the recording pipette completely suppressed the sensitization produced by PGE2 or forskolin. In recordings from membrane patches in the cell-attached configuration, the bath application of capsaicin evoked single-channel currents in which the level of channel activity was concentration-dependent and had an EC50 of 1.4 microM. These single-channel currents evoked by capsaicin exhibited an apparent reversal potential of +4 mV and were blocked by the capsaicin antagonist capsazepine. Exposure of the sensory neuron to either PGE2 or forskolin produced a large and transient increase in the mean channel activity (NPo) elicited by capsaicin, although the unitary conductance remained unaltered. Taken together, these observations suggest that modulation of the capsaicin-gated channel by the cAMP-protein kinase A signaling pathway enhanced the gating of these channels and consequently resulted in the sensitization of the whole-cell currents.
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    Myofibroblast β2 adrenergic signaling amplifies cardiac hypertrophy in mice
    (Elsevier, 2019-02) Imaeda, Atsuki; Tanaka, Shota; Tonegawa, Kota; Fuchigami, Shota; Igarashi, Yumi; Takahashi, Misato; Enomoto, Daichi; Obana, Masanori; Maeda, Makiko; Kihara, Miho; Kiyonari, Hiroshi; Conway, Simon J.; Fujio, Yasushi; Nakayama, Hiroyuki; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Abnormal β-adrenergic signaling plays a central role in human heart failure. In mice, chronic β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) stimulation elicits cardiac hypertrophy. It has been reported that cultured cardiac fibroblasts express βAR; however, the functional in vivo requirement of βAR signaling in cardiac fibroblasts during the development of cardiac hypertrophy remains elusive. β2AR null mice exhibited attenuated hypertrophic responses to chronic βAR stimulation upon continuous infusion of an agonist, isoprenaline (ISO), compared to those in wildtype controls, suggesting that β2AR activation in the heart induces pro-hypertrophic effects in mice. Since β2AR signaling is protective in cardiomyocytes, we focused on β2AR signaling in cardiac myofibroblasts. To determine whether β2AR signaling in myofibroblasts affects cardiac hypertrophy, we generated myofibroblast-specific transgenic mice (TG) with the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (PKAcα) using Cre-loxP system. Myofibroblast-specific PKAcα overexpression resulted in enhanced heart weight normalized to body weight ratio, associated with an enlargement of cardiomyocytes at 12 weeks of age, indicating that myofibroblast-specific activation of PKA mediates cardiac hypertrophy in mice. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes stimulated with conditioned media from TG cardiac fibroblasts likewise exhibited significantly more growth than those from controls. Thus, β2AR signaling in myofibroblasts plays a substantial role in ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy, possibly due to a paracrine effect. β2AR signaling in cardiac myofibroblasts may represent a promising target for development of novel therapies for cardiac hypertrophy.