Search results for "Second messenger system"

Robust and sensitive GFP-based cGMP sensor for real time imaging in intact Caenorhabditis elegans

2018

AbstractcGMP is a ubiquitous second messenger that plays a role in sensory signaling and plasticity through its regulation of ion channels and kinases. Previous studies that primarily used genetic and biochemical tools suggest that cGMP is spatiotemporally regulated in multiple sensory modalities, including light, heat, gases, salt and odor. FRET- and GFP-based cGMP sensors were developed to visualize cGMP in primary cell culture and Caenorhabditis elegans to corroborate these findings. While a FRET-based sensor has been used in an intact animal to visualize cGMP, the requirement of a multiple emission system limits its ability to be used on its own as well as with other sensors and fluores…

The Interaction of Buccal Mucosal Epithelial Cells with E. coli Bacteria Enhances the Intraepithelial Calcium Flux and the Release of Prostaglandin E…

1999

Mucosal epithelial cells contribute significantly to host defense mechanisms. Uroepithelial cells (UEC) from healthy donors suppress bacterial growth in vitro. Bacterial adherence to UEC has been shown to be a prerequisite. Similar results have been shown for buccal epithelial cells (BEC). The host response triggered by the host-parasite interaction seems to involve signal transduction and intracellular activation of second messengers. In this study the intraepithelial calcium flux was analyzed in individual BEC after bacterial contact. BEC were derived from scrapes of the buccal mucosa and labelled with fluo-3 (a calcium indicator). Thereafter the cells were analyzed immediately with a FAC…

Prostaglandin E2 activates the ciliary beat frequency of cultured human nasal mucosa via the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate.

2001

Prostaglandins influence the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of ciliated nasal epithelial cells and a stimulatory effect has been described for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Until now, it is not known whether PGE2 has direct ciliostimulatory properties or acts through a second messenger. In this study we investigated whether cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is implicated in the signal transduction pathway of PGE2-induced activation of CBF. Ciliated cells of the nasal mucosa were cultured for up to 5 days whereafter the culture medium was removed and the cells were incubated with different concentrations of test solutions. The ciliated cells were recorded under a phase-contrast microscope and v…

Expression and distribution of key enzymes of the cyclic GMP signaling in the human clitoris: relation to phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5)

2011

The clitoris contributes to the normal female sexual response cycle. A significance of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) has been assumed in the control of clitoral vascular smooth muscle. As only a few investigations on the physiology of the vascular and non-vascular clitoral tissue have been carried out, knowledge on the mechanisms controlling this particular female genital organ is still vague. It has been suggested that human clitoral corpus cavernosum smooth muscle is regulated by nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP and related key enzymes, such as NO synthases (NOSs) and the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). The present study evaluated in the human clitoris, by means of immunohistochemistr…

Developmental Changes and Daily Rhythm in Melatonin-Induced Inhibition of 3′,5′-Cyclic AMP Accumulation in the Rat Pituitary

1990

Melatonin's transduction mechanisms were investigated using in vitro cultured anterior hemipituitaries. Melatonin inhibited cAMP and 3',5'-cyclic GMP accumulation in neonatal rat anterior pituitary stimulated with LHRH. Maximal inhibitory effect was reached within 25 min and persisted for at least 20 min. Inhibition of cAMP accumulation is specific for melatonin because its analogs N-acetylserotonin and 5-methoxytryptamine are 1000 times less potent. Melatonin effect is age- and time-dependent. Marked inhibition was observed in 5-, 10-, and 14-day-old rats but not in 29-day-old ones. Melatonin was significantly more potent when applied at the end of the light period as compared with the fir…

Progesterone increases basal 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate formation and down-regulates the agonist-induced inositol phosphates generation in …

1992

Whether the placenta is a target tissue for estrogens and progesterone, and their putative mechanism of action, is still a controversial question in the literature. The effect of progesterone and estradiol on 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and inositol phosphates generation in human term placenta was investigated. Placental explants were incubated in vitro for up to 48 h in the absence and in the presence of estradiol, progesterone or both steroids (0.1 μmol/l final concentration in all cases), and were stimulated with terbutaline, a β-adrenergic agonist, (0.1 mmol/l) or angiotensin II(1 μmol/l), The cAMP content was measured by a competitive protein binding assay, and the gene…

NO signaling in plant immunity: A tale of messengers

2015

International audience; Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical gas involved in a myriad of plant physiological processes including immune responses. How NO mediates its biological effects in plant facing microbial pathogen attack is an unresolved question. Insights into the molecular mechanisms by which it propagates signals reveal the contribution of this simple gas in complex signaling pathways shared with reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the second messenger Ca2+. Understanding of the subtle cross-talks operating between these signals was greatly improved by the recent identification and the functional analysis of proteins regulated through S-nitrosylation, a major NO-dependent post-transl…

Role of cAMP in mediating AHR signaling.

2009

Regulation of the nuclear import of many transcription factors represents a step in gene regulation which is crucial for a number of cellular processes. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a basic helix-loop-helix protein of the PAS (PER-ARNT-SIM) family of transcriptional regulators is a cytosol-associated and ligand-activated receptor. The environmental toxin dioxin binds with high affinity to AHR rendering it nuclear and leading to the activation of AHR sensitive genes. However, the fact, that the AHR mediates a large variety of physiological events without the involvement of any known exogenous ligand, including liver and vascular system development, maturation of the immune system, re…

The electrophysiology of adenosine in the mammalian central nervous system

1991

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation by cAMP vs. dioxin: divergent signaling pathways.

2005

Even before the first vertebrates appeared on our planet, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor ( AHR ) gene was present to carry out one or more critical life functions. The vertebrate AHR then evolved to take on functions of detecting and responding to certain classes of environmental toxicants. These environmental pollutants include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., benzo[ a ]pyrene), polyhalogenated hydrocarbons, dibenzofurans, and the most potent small-molecular-weight toxicant known, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD or dioxin). After binding of these ligands, the activated AHR translocates rapidly from the cytosol to the nucleus, where it forms a heterodimer with aryl hydroc…