Copper Inhibits the Water and Glycerol Permeability of Aquaporin-3

Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) is an aquaglyceroporin expressed in erythrocytes and several other tissues. Erythrocytes are, together with kidney and liver, the main targets for copper toxicity. Here we report that both water and glycerol permeability of human AQP3 is inhibited by copper. Inhibition is fast, dose-dependent, and reversible. If copper is dissolved in carbonic acid-bicarbonate buffer, the natural buffer system in our body, doses in the range of those observed in Wilson disease and in copper poisoning caused significant inhibition. AQP7, another aquaglyceroporin, was insensitive to copper. Three extracellular amino acid residues, Trp128, Ser152, and His241, were identified as responsible for the effect of copper on AQP3. We have previously shown that Ser152 is involved in regulation of AQP3 by pH. The fact that Ser152 mediates regulation of AQP3 by copper may explain the phenomenon of exquisite sensitivity of human erythrocytes to copper at acidic pH. When AQP3 was co-expressed with another AQP, only glycerol but not water permeability was inhibited by copper. Our results provide a better understanding of processes that occur in severe copper metabolism defects such as Wilson disease and in copper poisoning

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УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЕ ПОСОБИЯФАРМАКОГНОЗИ

Bioelectric and Morphological Response of Liquid-Covered Human Airway Epithelial Calu-3 Cell Monolayer to Periodic Deposition of Colloidal 3-Mercaptopropionic-Acid Coated CdSe-CdS/ZnS Core-Multishell Quantum Dots.

Lung epithelial cells are extensively exposed to nanoparticles present in the modern urban environment. Nanoparticles, including colloidal quantum dots (QDs), are also considered to be potentially useful carriers for the delivery of drugs into the body. It is therefore important to understand the ways of distribution and the effects of the various types of nanoparticles in the lung epithelium. We use a model system of liquid-covered human airway epithelial Calu-3 cell cultures to study the immediate and long-term effects of repeated deposition of colloidal 3-mercaptopropionic-acid coated CdSe-CdS/ZnS core-multishell QDs on the lung epithelial cell surface. By live confocal microscope imaging and by QD fluorescence measurements we show that the QD permeation through the mature epithelial monolayers is very limited. At the time of QD deposition, the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) of the epithelial monolayers transiently decreased, with the decrement being proportional to the QD dose. Repeated QD deposition, once every six days for two months, lead to accumulation of only small amounts of the QDs in the cell monolayer. However, it did not induce any noticeable changes in the long-term TEER and the molecular morphology of the cells. The colloidal 3-mercaptopropionic-acid coated CdSe-CdS/ZnS core-multishell QDs could therefore be potentially used for the delivery of drugs intended for the surface of the lung epithelia during limited treatment periods

Protein kinase A directly phosphorylates metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 to modulate its function

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) regulates excitatory post-synaptic signaling in the central nervous system (CNS) and is implicated in various CNS disorders. Protein kinase A (PKA) signaling is known to play a critical role in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and addiction. Dopamine signaling is known to modulate the properties of mGluR5 in a cAMP- and PKA-dependent manner, suggesting that mGluR5 may be a direct target for PKA. Our study identifies mGluR5 at Ser870 as a direct substrate for PKA phosphorylation and demonstrates that this phosphorylation plays a critical role in the PKA-mediated modulation of mGluR5 functions such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation and intracellular Ca[superscript 2+] oscillations. The identification of the molecular mechanism by which PKA signaling modulates mGluR5-mediated cellular responses contributes to the understanding of the interaction between dopaminergic and glutamatergic neuronal signaling. We identified serine residue 870 (S870) in metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) as a direct substrate for protein kinase A (PKA). The phosphorylation of this site regulates the ability of mGluR5 to induce extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and intracellular Ca[superscript 2+] oscillations. This study provides a direct molecular mechanism by which PKA signaling interacts with glutamate neurotransmission

Biocompatibility of OSTE polymers studied by cell growth experiments

The recently introduced OSTE polymer technology has shown very useful features for microfluidics for lab-on-a-chip applications. However, no data has yet been published on cell viability on OSTE. In this work, we study the biocompatibility of three OSTE formulations by cell growth experiments. Moreover, we investigate the effect of varying thiol excess on cell viability on OSTE surfaces. The results show poor cell viability on one OSTE formulation, and viability comparable with polystyrene on a second formulation with thiol excess below 60%. In the third formulation, we observe cell proliferation. These results are promising for cell-based assays in OSTE microfluidic devices.QC 20131122CellRin

Effect of QD deposition on the short-term TEER of Calu-3 cell monolayers.

<p>Shown are representative TEER data recorded on six consecutive days. QDs (black lines, 50 μL of 12-μM QD suspension, red lines, 20 μL), and 3-MPA (blue lines, 50 μL of 10-mM 3-MPA solution) were added directly after the TEER reading at 5 min.</p

Short-term TEER of the cells exposed to QDs at a different time after the medium change.

<p>Inserts A1 and D1 were exposed to QDs a few hours after the medium change. Inserts A2 and D2 were exposed to QDs one day after the medium change. Inserts A3 and D3 were exposed to QDs two days after the medium change. The immediate effect of the QD deposition did not depend on the time that had passed since the medium change.</p

Effect of the cell culture age at the beginning of the QD treatment on the long-term TEER values.

<p>(a) Transwell insert cluster D was exposed to QDs starting from culture day 18, (b) cluster E was exposed to QDs starting from culture day 36, (c) cluster F was exposed to QDs starting from culture day 54. Values are means±SD from six inserts in each cluster. The red lines indicate the day of the start of the QD treatment. The cell culture age when the QD treatment started did not play any significant role in the long-term TEER changes.</p