Role of second messengers in cholesterol efflux

1994 ◽  
Vol 109 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
E.L. Bierman ◽  
M. Deeg ◽  
A. Mendez ◽  
S. Garver ◽  
B. Hokland ◽  
...  
Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 875
Author(s):  
Gerald Thiel ◽  
Tobias Schmidt ◽  
Oliver G. Rössler

Ca2+ ions function as second messengers regulating many intracellular events, including neurotransmitter release, exocytosis, muscle contraction, metabolism and gene transcription. Cells of a multicellular organism express a variety of cell-surface receptors and channels that trigger an increase of the intracellular Ca2+ concentration upon stimulation. The elevated Ca2+ concentration is not uniformly distributed within the cytoplasm but is organized in subcellular microdomains with high and low concentrations of Ca2+ at different locations in the cell. Ca2+ ions are stored and released by intracellular organelles that change the concentration and distribution of Ca2+ ions. A major function of the rise in intracellular Ca2+ is the change of the genetic expression pattern of the cell via the activation of Ca2+-responsive transcription factors. It has been proposed that Ca2+-responsive transcription factors are differently affected by a rise in cytoplasmic versus nuclear Ca2+. Moreover, it has been suggested that the mode of entry determines whether an influx of Ca2+ leads to the stimulation of gene transcription. A rise in cytoplasmic Ca2+ induces an intracellular signaling cascade, involving the activation of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin and various protein kinases (protein kinase C, extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases). In this review article, we discuss the concept of gene regulation via elevated Ca2+ concentration in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, the role of Ca2+ entry and the role of enzymes as signal transducers. We give particular emphasis to the regulation of gene transcription by calcineurin, linking protein dephosphorylation with Ca2+ signaling and gene expression.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (3) ◽  
pp. C926-C931 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. I. Spielman ◽  
H. Nagai ◽  
G. Sunavala ◽  
M. Dasso ◽  
H. Breer ◽  
...  

The tasting of bitter compounds may have evolved as a protective mechanism against ingestion of potentially harmful substances. We have identified second messengers involved in bitter taste and show here for the first time that they are rapid and transient. Using a quench-flow system, we have studied bitter taste signal transduction in a pair of mouse strains that differ in their ability to taste the bitter stimulus sucrose octaacetate (SOA); however, both strains taste the bitter agent denatonium. In both strains of mice, denatonium (10 mM) induced a transient and rapid increase in levels of the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) with a maximal production near 75-100 ms after stimulation. In contrast, SOA (100 microM) brought about a similar increase in IP3 only in SOA-taster mice. The response to SOA was potentiated in the presence of GTP (1 microM). The GTP-enhanced SOA-response supports a G protein-mediated response for this bitter compound. The rapid kinetics, transient nature, and specificity of the bitter taste stimulus-induced IP3 formation are consistent with the role of IP3 as a second messenger in the chemoelectrical transduction of bitter taste.


2000 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Mott ◽  
Lu Yu ◽  
Michel Marcil ◽  
Betsie Boucher ◽  
Colette Rondeau ◽  
...  

Diabetologia ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (S2) ◽  
pp. S30-S35 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Howell ◽  
P. M. Jones ◽  
S. J. Persaud

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Spoto ◽  
A. Contento ◽  
M. Di Nicola ◽  
G. Bianchi ◽  
C. Di Giulio ◽  
...  

Phosphodiesterase activity was tested on homogenized eyes of young and old rats kept in hypoxic and hyperoxic conditions, with the aim of correlating any difference in PDE activity with aging and variations in atmospheric oxygen contents. The activities of the two enzymes, cAMP phosphodiesterase (cAMP-PDE) and cGMP phosphodiesterase (cGMP-PDE), were tested. Phosphodiesterases seem to be particularly susceptible to variations in oxygen tension, suggesting an important role of cyclic nucleotides in cellular adaptive processes. Particularly, cAMP-PDE activity increases lightly both in hypoxic and hyperoxic conditions in young and old rats. For cGMP-PDE activity of young rats, a similar behaviour to cAMP-PDE activity is observed with a similar increase in hypoxic and hyperoxic conditions respect to the control rats. Instead old rats seem to be quite insensible to hypoxia, while they show a fair increase in cGMP-PDE activity in the case of hyperoxia. The second messengers cAMP and cGMP play important roles in mediating the biological effects of a wide variety of first messengers. The intracellular levels of cyclic nucleotides depend upon rates of synthesis and degradation, actuated, respectively, by cyclases and phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Therefore, PDEs seem to play an important role in a wide variety of physiological processes.


1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK M. FARACI ◽  
DONALD D. HEISTAD

Faraci, Frank M., and Donald D. Heistad. Regulation of the Cerebral Circulation: Role of Endothelium and Potassium Channels. Physiol. Rev. 78: 53–97, 1998. — Several new concepts have emerged in relation to mechanisms that contribute to regulation of the cerebral circulation. This review focuses on some physiological mechanisms of cerebral vasodilatation and alteration of these mechanisms by disease states. One mechanism involves release of vasoactive factors by the endothelium that affect underlying vascular muscle. These factors include endothelium-derived relaxing factor (nitric oxide), prostacyclin, and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor(s). The normal vasodilator influence of endothelium is impaired by some disease states. Under pathophysiological conditions, endothelium may produce potent contracting factors such as endothelin. Another major mechanism of regulation of cerebral vascular tone relates to potassium channels. Activation of potassium channels appears to mediate relaxation of cerebral vessels to diverse stimuli including receptor-mediated agonists, intracellular second messengers, and hypoxia. Endothelial- and potassium channel-based mechanisms are related because several endothelium-derived factors produce relaxation by activation of potassium channels. The influence of potassium channels may be altered by disease states including chronic hypertension, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and diabetes.


2002 ◽  
Vol 277 (42) ◽  
pp. 39477-39484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey E. Panagotopulos ◽  
Scott R. Witting ◽  
Erica M. Horace ◽  
David Y. Hui ◽  
J. Nicholas Maiorano ◽  
...  

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