Biochemical and Electrophysiological Evidence of Functional Vasopressin Receptors in the Rat Superior Cervical Ganglion
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 83, pp. 5335-5339, July 1986 Neurobiology Biochemical and electrophysiological evidence of functional vasopressin receptors in the rat superior cervical ganglion (autoradiography/inositol phosphollpids/neurohypophyseal peptides/receptor characterization/sympathetic system) MARIA KIRALY*, SYLVIE AUDIGIERt, ELIANE TRIBOLLETt, C. BARBERISt, M. DoLIvo*, AND J. J. DREIFUSS4§ *Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland; tCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institut National de la Santd et de la Recherche Mddicale Center of Pharmacology-Endocrinology, 34033 Montpellier, France; and lDepartment of Physiology, University Medical Center, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland Communicated by Ewald R. Weibel, March 31, 1986 ABSTRACT Binding of radioactive vasopressin-but not vasopressin receptors, whose intracellular signal is depen- of oxytocin-was detected by autoradiography and by labeling dent upon the hydrolysis ofmembrane inositol phospholipids ofmembranes obtained from the rat superior cervical ganglion. and which are distinct from the kidney-type (V2) receptors In both instances binding could be displaced by V1 (smooth associated with adenylate cyclase (15, 16). Moreover, we muscle-type) but not by V2 (kidney-type) agonists, indicating show in electrophysiological studies that AVP applied at low that the ganglionic vasopressin receptors are similar to those concentrations causes a reduction in the amplitude ofthe fast present on hepatocytes and vascular smooth muscle. In ac- excitatory postsynaptic potential (f-EPSP) elicited by stim- cordance with the V1 character of the receptors, vasopressin ulation of the preganglionic nerve. activated the turnover of membrane inositol lipids, and this effect was abolished by a structural analogue known to act as a vasopressor antagonist. A possible physiological role of MATERIALS AND METHODS vasopressin was suggested by intracellular recordings obtained Binding of [3H]AVP to Crude Membrane Preparations. from ganglion cells in vitro. Vasopressin induced a reduction in Superior cervical ganglia were dissected from stunned male the amplitude of the fast excitatory postsynaptic potential Wistar rats (200-250 g, body weight). The afferent and evoked by electrical stimulation of the preganglionic nerve. efferent nerves were cut off, and the connective tissue This reduction in ganglionic transmission was antagonized by sheaths were removed. For each experiment, the ganglia the same synthetic structural analogue that blocked the effect from 15 rats were dissected and immersed in ice-cold 0.32 M of vasopressin on inositol lipids. This study provides evidence sucrose, 2 mM EDTA. The ganglia were then homogenized for the presence of functional vasopressin receptors in a rat in 1.0 ml of 50 mM Tris HCl (pH 7.4), 5 mM MgCl2. The sympathetic ganglion and thus suggests that vasopressin may membranes were separated by centrifugation for 10 min at play a role in peripheral autonomic function. 10,000 x g (Eppendorf5414). The sediment was resuspended in 1.2 ml of the same medium. To eliminate the residual The neuropeptides arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin connective tissue the suspension was filtered through a (OT) are present not only in the hypothalamoneuro-hypo- stainless steel grid (200 Am, side length). This final suspen- physial system but also in neural pathways that project to sion, containing about 1 mg of protein per ml, was used for various areas of the central nervous system (1-3). Vasopres- the binding studies. All experiments were performed using sin- and oxytocin-containing axon terminals are found in freshly prepared membranes. particular in the proximity of cell clusters believed to par- Binding of [3H]AVP was measured at 30'C for 20 min ticipate in autonomic functions, such as the nucleus of the according to Audigier and Barberis (17). solitary tract-dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus complex, as Autoradiography. Superior cervical ganglion and brain well as the cell bodies of sympathetic preganglionic neurones were dissected from adult male rats (300-350 g) of Sprague- in the intermediolateral column of the spinal cord (4, 5). Dawley-derived stock (SIVZ) under sodium pentobarbital Electrophysiological studies have demonstrated that AVP anesthesia (5 mg/100 g of body weight, intraperitoneally), and OT affect neuronal activity in these regions (3, 6, 7). In and autoradiographs were obtained according to a method addition, the peptides are releasable by a calcium-dependent adapted from Van Leeuwen and Wolters (18). Organs were mechanism (8, 9). These findings have prompted an interest immediately frozen in isopentane (2-methyl butane) at - 30'C in the possible role of AVP and OT as centrally acting and cryostat sections (15 Aum thick) were cut, collected on modulators of autonomic functions. chrome/alum/gelatin-coated slides and dried overnight in a Hanley et al. (10) detected the presence of AVP-like dessicator at +40C. They were preincubated at room tem- immunoreactivity in the rat superior cervical ganglion. In perature for 20 min by dipping the slides in 50 mM Tris HCl view of previous reports showing that substance P (11, 12), (pH 7.4) containing 100 mM NaCl and 50 'M guanosine enkephalin (13), and other peptides (14) may act directly on 5'-triphosphate, then rinsed twice for 5 min in 50 mM the excitability of the ganglionic neurones and/or exert Tris HCl alone. Each section was covered with 200 A.l of the presynaptic actions in sympathetic ganglia by reducing the incubation medium [50 mM Tris HCl 0.1 mM amount of acetylcholine released from axon terminals (13), it (pH 7.4), was of importance to assess whether AVP and OT might affect neurotransmission in the Abbreviations: AVP, arginine vasopressin; f-EPSP, fast excitatory superior cervical ganglion. postsynaptic potential; OT, oxytocin; [Phe2,Orn8]VT, [2-phenylal- In the present study we first explore the presence of anine,8-ornithine]vasotocin; [Thr?,Gly7]OT, [4-threonine,7-glycine]- binding sites for AVP in the ganglion. We then characterize oxytocin; HO-[Thr4,Gly7]OT, [1-(L-2-hydroxy-3-mercaptopropionic these sites as belonging to the smooth muscle-type (V1) acid,4-threonine,7-glycine]oxytocin; dDAVP,1-deamino[8-D-argi- nine]vasopressin; d(CH2)5Tyr(Et)VAVP, [1-(.3-mercapto-,4,,8-cyclo- pentamethylene propionic acid,2-0-ethyltyrosine,4-valine]vas- The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge opressin; dTyr(Me)VDAVP, [1-(/3-mercaptopropionic acid),2-0- payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" methyltyrosine,4-valine,8-D-arginine]vasopressin. in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. §To whom all correspondence should be addressed. 5335 Downloaded by guest on September 23, 2021 5336 Neurobiology: Kiraly et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83 (1986) bacitracin, 3 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% bovine serum albumin] [3H][Phe3]arginine vasopressin (40-60 Ci/mmol; 1 Ci = 37 containing [3H]AVP (1.5 nM) or [3H]OT (3.5 nM) either alone GBq; New England Nuclear) and [3H][Tyr2]oxytocin (34.4 or with 10 ,M of the same unlabeled hormone to determine Ci/mmol; New England Nuclear) were purified by HPLC and the nonspecific binding. Structural analogues were also used affinity chromatography on a neurophysin-Sepharose col- at various concentrations as competing agents. umn as described (17). myo-2-[3H]Inositol (16.5 Ci/mmol) Incubation was carried out for 1 hr at room temperature in a was obtained from New England Nuclear. humid chamber followed by two 5-min washes in ice-cold incubation medium. The slides were dried with cold air, placed RESULTS in a vacuum dessicator with paraformaldehyde at 800C for 2 hr, then placed in an x-ray cassette in contact with tritium-sensitive [3H]AVP Binding. Concentration-dependent specific bind- LKB Ultrofilm for 4 months at 40C. The film was developed in ing at equilibrium was determined on membranes obtained D-19 for S min, and the sections were stained with cresyl violet. from rat superior cervical ganglia. The results of four inde- The autoradiographic images were analyzed semi-quanti- pendent experiments-one of which is illustrated in Fig. 1- tatively using computerized densitometry. The results are indicate that [3H]AVP bound to an apparently homogeneous expressed in fmol of [3H]AVP/mg of protein (19). population of specific binding sites. The estimated equilibri- AnaIysis of Labeled Inositol Phospholipids. Desheathed um dissociation constant was 1.5 nM, a value that is similar ganglia from 25 rats were incubated for 2 hr at 370C in a to that determined for the AVP binding sites characterized in shaking incubator, in 6 ml of Krebs solution (NaCl, 125 mM; the rat hippocampus (17, 24). A mean maximal binding KCl, 3.5 mM; KH2PO4, 1.25 mM; MgSO4, 1.2 mM; CaCl2, capacity of 196 fmol/mg of protein was found, a value much 0.75 mM; NaHCO3, 25 mM; glucose, 10 mM) containing 2 higher than the 39 fmol/mg ofprotein previously observed for liM myo-2-[3H]inositol, gassed with 95% 02/5% CO2. The hippocampal membranes. ganglia were then rinsed with the same medium containing no The detected vasopressin binding sites exhibited a high inositol. Each ganglion was transferred to a tube containing degree of specificity. Unlabeled structural analogues com- 230 Al of prewarmed, oxygenated Krebs solution. After 15 peted for [ H]AVP binding to almost the same maximal min, 10 mM LiCl was added to inhibit the hydrolysis of extent but exhibited marked differences in efficiency (Fig. 1). inositol phosphates (20); 20 min later a peptide was added, Thus the selective oxytocic agonist [Thr4,Gly7]OT and the and incubation usually was continued for another 20 min. selective antidiuretic agonist dDAVP inhibited [3HJATP Incubations were terminated by adding 12.5 ml of 70% binding with low affinities (Ki = 3.7 ,uM and 1.0 8vM, (wt/vol) HClO4. Inositol phosphates were separated using a respectively), while the vasopressor agonist [Phe2,0m ]VT small column of Dowex 1-xlO (100-200 mesh, formate form) had a high affinity (Ki = 12.3 nM).