Abstract: Calcium and cyclic AMP are the two most common cellular "second messengers" (McHenry 1993). The mechanisms by which their levels are regulated in the cell are complex and the proper functioning of such regulatory systems is essential for life. I investigated the effects of cAMP on intracellular calcium concentrations using HEK-293 cells as a study system. Changes in internal Ca concentration were monitored using the fluorescent indicators fluo-3 and fura-2 and both conventional and confocal microscopy. First, cAMP was found to potentiate calcium influx through TRPM7 in cells induced to express the channel. Second, a novel cAMP-induced oscillatory response was observed in both M-expressing and control cells. Treatment with cyclic GMP did not elicit the oscillatory response. The oscillations persisted in the absence of extracellular Ca* and were blocked by pretreatment with luM thapsigargin, indicating they are solely dependent on the release and reuptake of calcium from internal stores. Oscillations continued in the presence of 1OuM ryanodine but were blocked by 10OuM 2-APB, suggesting a central role for the IP3 receptor and not the ryanodine receptor. Treatment with the broad spectrum kinase inhibitor staurosporine yielded mixed results. Oscillations persisted in some cells but were more prolonged and less frequent. This suggests that the underlying mechanism may involve phosphorylation, but the targets and identity of the phosphorylating enzyme remain unclear. Introduction: Life has in many ways evolved around calcium. The Cat ion is highly energetic ion and common in the natural environment; in fact, it is the fifth most common element in the earth’s crust and most prevalent mineral in the human body (McHenry 1993). In response to the ubiquity and biological activity of calcium, cells have developed a complex system of regulating their intracellular calcium concentrations, [Ca, in response to changes in the internal and external environments. The precise functioning of this regulatory system is critical for life; overly high calcium levels are cytotoxic and can trigger apoptotic cell death. Nor could life continue in the absence of calcium; the element plays a critical role in fertilization, muscle contraction and the transmission of nerve impulses, and is a key second messenger in a wide variety of signaling pathways in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. One critical way in which intercellular calcium concentrations are controlled is through the regulation of plasma membrane influx and efflux channels. Human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293), which served as the study system for these experiments, have been shown to have four types of calcium influx channels: highly selective LoAc channels, Imp Imx and nonselective INs channels (Bujag et al 2005). In addition, some of the cells used in this experiment were induced to express a murine version of the ion channel TRPM, a novel member of the growing family of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. Also known as LTRPG, TRPM is bifunctional, consisting of both ion channel and kinase domains (Runnels et al 2001). It is ubiquitously expressed in all vertebrate cell types studied to date and seems to be essential for life cellular death occurs when the DT4O LTRPC gene is removed (Nadler et al 2001). The role of TRPM is still a matter of debate in the scientific community. Hermosura et al. (2001) postulated that M is, like the ATP-activated K' channel, an ATP-depletion activated cation channel (ADAC that plays a key role in maintaining Ca and Mg homeostasis in response to the cell’s energy state. Previous work has also suggested links between regulation of the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), an indicator of energy state, and regulation of calcium levels (Hermosura, personal communication). Several isoforms of the enzyme adenylyl cyclase, which synthesizes cAMP from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), are known to be either positively or negatively regulated by Ca“. A spatial association between membrane-bound adenylyl cyclases and specific ion channels that serve as Ca entry pathways has also been documented (Mons et al 1998). More recently, the work of Takezawa et al. (2003) suggested that cAMP up-regulates TRPM activity, while G-proteins have inhibitory effects on the channel through their regulation of adenylate cyclase activity. In addition to controlling the entry and exit of calcium from the cell, cells also regulate the release to the cytosol of calcium stored internally in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or, in muscle cells, the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The two major pathways of intracellular calcium release are controlled by the inositol 1,4,5 triphosphate receptor (IP,R) and the ryanodine receptor (RyR). Ca release via the IP,R is regulated by a positive feedback loop in which increased [Ca increases the open probability of the channel (Wang and Thompson 1995). It has also been suggested that the affinity of the IP,R for its substrate, and thus the rate of release from internal stores, is enhanced by the presence of cAMP (Chatton et al 1998). Calcium reuptake into the internal stores is controlled by the sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pumps (SERCA pumps). Calcium signaling pathways and the relationship between plasma membrane channel and the internal stores have been a focus of study for many years, but these complex pathways are not yet fully understood. A long-standing model is the capacitative, or store-operated entry model, first proposed by Putney (1986, 1990). Under this model, Ca* influx occurs subsequent to the emptying of agonist-sensitive internal calcium stores. A more recent model suggests an important role for a non-capacitative pathway regulated by arachidonic acid, which is activated at lower agonist concentrations (Shuttleworth and Thompson 1999). An important regulatory role for cyclic nucleotides has been suggested in both the influx of calcium from the extracellular environment and in pathways of release from the internal stores. In the present experiment, I used HEK-293 cells as a study system in an attempt to better characterize the roles of cyclic nucleotides in the regulation of intercellular calcium levels, and in particular to further investigate the role of cAMP in regulation of calcium flow through TRPM. Materials and Methods: Materials: 2'-O-dibutryryl-cyclic AMP, 8-bromo-cyclic GMP, ionomycin, gadolinium G, MnQ, and thapsigargin were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. Ryanodine, 2-APB and staurosporine were purchased from CalBioChem. Tissue Culture: This experiment utilized human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells from the AlO cell line, which were stably transfected with a tetracycline-inducible murine TRPM/ construct to over-express the TRPM ion channel. All cells were grown in 50mL tissue culture flasks in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 0.1% penicillin/streptomycin, 0.01% blastocidin, and 0.01% zeocin, and kept in a 37°C incubator with 5% C. Flasks were passaged every 2-3 days, or when cells were nearly confluent. For the purpose of imaging, cells were plated on glass chips that had been treated with high molecular weight poly-lysine to increase adhesion and washed with ultrapure HO prior to plating. Plated cells were kept in DMEM in mini Petri dishes in the 37°C incubator until cells were nearly confluent. The usual time between plating and imaging was 48-72 hours, but this varied as growth rates changed over the course of the experiment. TRPM expression was induced with tetracycline 24-48 hours prior to an imaging experiment. Cells expressing the TRPM construct could be distinguished from controls by their rounded morphologies. Fluorescent Imaging: Cells were loaded with the fluorescent Ca indicator Fluo-3/AM, 5uL/mL, (Molecular Probes) for 40 minutes and washed 3x with a 2 mM Ca saline solution 20 minutes prior to imaging. Images were recorded at 4-second intervals as cell-laden glass cover slips were perfused with various solutions via a vacuum injection pump apparatus. Each imaging trial lasted four minutes. All Fluo-3/AM imaging was done on an Olympus Fluoview 300 laser scanning microscope using a UPLFL 20X objective. Fluoview Physiology FV30O (Olympus Optical) software was used in data acquisition. Fura-2/AM (Molecular Probes) dye was used to calibrate AF/Fo values with cellular calcium concentrations using the ratiometric calibration equation developed by Grynkie wicz (1985). Freshly prepared 2uM ionomycin was used to release all stored Ca and thus obtain a maximal fluorescence reading (Fma). 2mM MnC, quenches fura-2 fluorescence and was used to obtain a minimum reading (Fp). Fura-2 experiments were conducted on an Axiovert S100 microscope (Zeiss); MetaFluor 4.1 (Universal Imaging) was used for data acquisition and analysis. Dye loading procedures were identical to Fluo-3 experiments, but perfusion was done by hand with a micropipette. Data Analysis: At the completion of each experiment, ten representative cells were selected as regions of interest. The fluorescence intensity of these cells as a function of time over the course of several trials was determined in Fluoview. Data were then exported to Excel (Microsoft) for organization and subsequently to IGOR Pro (Wave Metrics) or Imagel (NIH) for further analysis. Data from the ten individual cells were averaged and corrected for initial fluorescence intensity to obtain values of AF/Fo. Statistical analysis was carried out using Systat 8.0 (SPSS). Where applicable, statistics are presented as mean + one standard deviation. Results: Dye Fade: The fluorescent intensity of Fluo-3/AM fades with time during continued exposure to light. To quantify the effects of dye fade, a four-minute dye fade control was run as the first trial on each chip. Some trials showed a slight increase in fluorescence; others a slight decrease. The patter of increases and decreases was random, and all trials approximated linearity. The mean best-fit line slope (N=43) was 9.957E-O5 + 2.756E-4, not significantly different from zero. Thus dye fade was not considered a significant confounding factor in interpreting the results. Calibration of intracellular [Ca*: Using the equation developed by Grynkiewicz (1985) and assuming a fura-2: Ca Kd of 135 nM (Molecular Probes), the concentration of intracellular Cat of a typical cell in the standard 2 mM Ca solution was determined to be 51.1 nM. Response to Changes in Extracellular Ca: TRPM expression increased the sensitivity of intracellular Ca** concentrations to changes in extracellular Ca“. When external [Ca was decreased from a 2mM solution to OmM EGTA-buffered saline, cells expressing the ion channel underwent a 26 + 15% drop in fluorescence while control cells experienced a smaller 11 + 2% decline. When external [Ca was increased from OmM to 2mM, cells expressing the ion channel underwent a 30 + 28% maximum rise in fluorescence while control cells experienced a decline of 2 + 12%. These results suggest that TRPM is a significant pathway of calcium entry. Representative plots are shown in Fig 1. Effects of Exogenous cAMP: The addition of 100uM or ImM exogenous, membrane¬ permeable cAMP to cells incubated in a 2mM Ca solution resulted in a sharp transient rise in [Cai, followed by dramatic oscillations, or "sparks", with a frequency of approximately 1/minute. A representative plot is shown in Fig 2. Lesser concentrations of cAMP (luM and 1QuM) did not produce either a peak or subsequent oscillations. The addition of ImM CGME also did not elicit an oscillatory response (Fig 3). Oscillations continued as long as the cells remained in a medium containing exogenous cAMP, regardless of changes in extracellular Ca between 2mM and OmM. In the presence of 2mM Ca“, oscillations continued for over an hour. TRPM expression did not have an effect on the magnitude or frequency of cAMP-induced [Ca oscillations. In cells expressing TRPM, the previously characterized cellular responses to changes in external calcium could be detected as a steady rise or fall underlying the oscillations. The steady change in response to increasing (although not decreasing) external calcium was potentiated by the presence of cAMP. When external calcium was increased from O to 2mM, the mean increase in fluorescence without cAMP was 31 + 28% without cAMP and 62 +54% with cAMP (one- tailed t-test P=.1377). Pharmacological Manipulation of the Oscillatory Response: A variety of interventions were made in an attempt to elucidate the mechanism underlying the oscillations. The frequency of oscillation was quantified by sub-sampling three regions of interest from each trial in which CAMP was added and counting the number of oscillations per cell in the field of view. Oscillation frequency under varying conditions was compared with a nested ANOVA and Student Newman-Keuls post hoc tests (Appendix A). Oscillation frequencies are plotted in Fig. The cAMP-induced [Ca i peak and subsequent oscillations persisted in the presence of 1OuM ryanodine (RyR inhibitor); indeed, the frequency of oscillation was significantly higher (SNK). Oscillations also continued in the majority of cells in the presence of 2uM and 1OuM concentrations of the broad spectrum protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine, but were significantly less frequent (SNK). The peaks observed in staurosporine-treated cells also had a different characteristic shape, generally broader and of lesser magnitude (Fig 6a). The ratio of peak height to width at half height was used as a metric for peak shape. The mean height: width ratio +SD of twenty randomly selected peaks was 4.92 + 1.63 in the presence of cAMP alone and 1.98 + 0.78 with staurosporine (two-tailed t-test P.001, Fig 6b). In some trials with staurosporine, these prolonged oscillations were observed without cAMP addition. 2-aminoethyoxydiphenyl borane (2-APB) inhibits Ca release via the IP, receptor. It does not affect the release of stored Ca modulated by the ryanodine receptor. Cells pretreated with 100uM 2-APB did not show a peak upon perfusion with a solution of 2mM Ca plus 10OuM cAMP, regardless of whether additional 2-APB was present in the perfusion solution. Furthermore, addition of 1O0uM 2-APB to cells oscillating in the presence of 2mM Ca and 100uM cAMP stopped the oscillations. In addition to blocking the oscillatory response, 2-APB also caused a very gradual rise in [Cai, which could be observed both in dye fade controls and in trials where cAMP was added. The Role of Internal Stores: The diterpene thapsigargin specifically blocks SERCA Cat pumping, which results in the release of calcium from internal stores. The addition of luM thapsigargin to cells incubated in a 2mM Ca solution caused a gradual increase in free Cat and subsequent, yet more gradual, decrease. Within 15 minutes, Cai had stabilized below the initial level. Pretreatment with luM thapsigargin eliminated cAMP-induced [Ca i oscillations in both control cells and those induced to express the TRPM construct (Fig 5), indicating that the observed oscillations are dependent on internal Ca stores. Incubation in gadolinium (Gd**), which creates a fast block to all Ca influx pathways present in the AlO cell line, including TRPM (Ta 2004), did not affect the results observed with thapsigargin and the subsequent addition of CAMP. Discussion: This experiment addressed two distinct phenomena concerning the regulation of intracellular calcium levels: (1) the effect of TRPM expression on intracellular calcium concentrations and the potentiation of the channel by cAMP, and (2) previously uncharacterized [Ca oscillations induced by the addition of exogenous cAMP. TRPM expression substantially increased the degree to which [Cali responded to changes in extracellular concentration, suggesting that RPM does indeed serve as a major pathway of calcium influx under physiologically relevant conditions. Furthermore, I observed that the steady [Cat i change in response to increasing (although not decreasing) external calcium was potentiated by the presence of cAMP, lending support to the suggestion of Takezawa et al (2003) that TRPM activity is up-regulated by increased concentrations of cAMP. While the presence of cAMP affected the activity of TRPM, the degree of TRPM expression had no effect on the cAMP-induced oscillatory response, suggesting that oscillations are inherent to the HEK cells themselves, and that influx pathways do not play a significant role. Others (Luo et al 2000, St. Bird and Putney 2004) have reported similar Ca oscillations in HEK-293 cells, but these have all been dependent on the continued presence of external calcium. Thus the phenomenon I observed, in which oscillations continued throughout the course of a four minute imaging trial in OmM Ca EGTA-buffered saline, can be considered novel. Furthermore, the oscillations persisted at a continuous frequency for over an hour, suggesting they might continue indefinitely and that the cells had been switched to a different "steady state". The mechanism underlying these oscillations is of particular interest because it represents a coupling between the two most common second messengers in the cell: cAMP and Ca (Cooper and Hausman 2004). Various pharmacological probes were used in an attempt to elucidate this mechanism. The response was not attenuated when experiments were conducted in the presence of 1OuM ryanodine, indicating that the ryanodine receptor, a major pathway of calcium release, does not play a significant or necessary role. In fact, analysis showed that the frequency of oscillations actually increased in the presence of ryanodine. However, in the presence of 2-APB, a membrane-permeant inhibitor of the IP, receptor, the addition of cAMP caused no [Ca i peak or oscillations. This result implicates the IP,R as a key player in the oscillatory response. While the most significant regulator of IP,-induced calcium release is calcium itself (Nagakawa et al 1991), there is also a substantial body of evidence which indicates that cyclic nucleotides also regulate the receptor's activity. There are two primary splice variants of the IP receptor, the S2+, or neuronal, variant and the S2- non-neuronal type, which lacks 40 amino acid residues between its two phosphorylation sites (Nagakawa et al 1991). Previous work has shown that in cells expressing the S2+ variant, Ca release was enhanced when either PKA or PKG was activated, but that only PKA had an effect in cells expressing the S2- variant (Wagner et al 2003). The most plausible mechanism based on these results, especially given the lack of response to cGMP, would be the activation of IP,R via phosphorylation by a protein kinase, possibly protein kinase A (PKA), also known as cAMP-dependent kinase. Phosphorylation would increase the open probability of the receptor, enhancing the positive feedback effect due to increased Cat concentrations. Under this model, the oscillations would continue as long as the receptor remained phosphorylated and the SERCA pumps continued to replenish the internal stores. This hypothesis is also consistent with previous work in HEK-293 cells showing a qualitatively different oscillatory response to be phosphorylation dependent. In cells expressing the Cat sensing receptor CaR, [Ca i oscillations were shown to be dependent on a negative feedback mechanism in which protein kinase C(PKQ phosphorylates CaR at an inhibitory threonine site (Young et al 2002). However, the results observed when experiments were carried out in the presence of various concentrations of stauros porine somewhat complicate the picture. Staurosporine, derived from the bacterium Streptomoes spp., inhibits a broad spectrum of protein kinases and in particular is a very strong inhibitor of PKA, with an IG, of 7nM (CalBioChem). It was expected that staurosporine would completely block the oscillatory response, yet mixed results were observed in the presence of both 2uM and lOuM staurosporine. Oscillations were attenuated in only some trials, while in the majority of trials, a [Ca peak and oscillations persisted in varying fractions of the cells. However, the oscillations were significantly less frequent and more prolonged (indicated by shallower and broader fluorescent peaks). The differences in peak frequency and characteristic shape suggest that the oscillations observed in the presence of staurosporine may have been due to a different and possibly unrelated phenomenon, and that the original cAMP-induced oscillatory phenomenon, with its characteristic sharp, narrow peaks and 1 per minute oscillation frequency was in fact attenuated by protein kinase inhibition. The presence of the low-frequency, broad oscillations in staurosporine trials in which no cAMP was added lends credence to this theory. An alternative explanation is that the presence of staurosporine somehow altered or tempered the oscillatory response without completely blocking it. Regardless, such a significant change in the response suggests some role for protein kinases in the underlying mechanism. It is clear that much remains to be learned about this unique oscillatory response. In future work, it would be informative to better characterize the response to staurosporine and see whether other broad spectrum kinase inhibitors elicit similar oscillations. Testing the effects of more specific kinase inhibitors, especially those, such as PKI-a, which are highly specific for protein kinase A, could further explain the underlying mechanism. Investigation into the underlying kinetics of the oscillations would also be relevant and highly interesting. Conclusions: Expression of the ion channel TRPM greatly increases the response of Ca to changes in external calcium. The presence of 100uM exogenous cyclic AMP potentiates the response of the ion channel to increasing external Ca* concentrations. In both control cells and those expressing TRPM, cAMP causes a rapid rise in [Ca followed by oscillations that persist for up to an hour, an effect not shared by cyclic GMP. The oscillations are dependent on the release and reuptake of calcium from internal stores and do not depend on the continued presence of extracellular calcium. The IP, receptor plays a central role in the response, but the ryanodine receptor is not involved. A plausible mechanism involves phosphorylation of the IP,R by cAMP dependent kinase, or protein kinase A. Acknowledgements: This project could not have been possible without the assistance of many people. Most importantly, I would like to thank Stuart Thompson for his knowledge, patience, and enthusiasm, and his assistance with all aspects of the project. Many thanks also to my lab mates, Jennifer Cribbs, Allison Waters and Christian Reilly, for their never-ending help, camaraderie and good coffee. Thanks to Amro Hamdoun for his assistance with fura-2 experiments, to the entire Epel lab for microscope use and contribution of reagents, to Jim Watanabe for statistical advice, and especially to Chris Patton for assistance with all things technological. As always, love and many thanks to my parents for supporting me in all I do. Sources Cted: Bujag V, Alexeenko V, Zubov A, Glushankova L, Nikolaev A, Wang Z, Kaznacheyeva E, Bezprozvanny I, Mozhayeva GN (2005) Functional properties of endogenous receptor- and store-operated calcium influx channels in HEK293 cells. J Biol Chem 280: 16790-16797. Chatton JY, Cao Y, Liu H, Stucki JW (1998) Permissive role of cAMP in the oscillatory response to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in rat hepatocytes. Biochem J 330: 1411-1416. Cooper DMF, Mons N, Karpen JW (1995) Adenylyl cyclases and the interaction between calcium and cAMP signaling. Nature 374: 421-424. Cooper GM, Hausman RE, eds. (2004) Cell Signaling. pp 541-589 in The Cll: A Mdeadar Apprard. 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Appendix A: ANOVA A two factor nested design was used with movies nested within pharmaceutical treatment. Sub-sampled regions of interest from the field of view served as individual replicates (n-3) Source F-ratio Treatment 46.189 0.00 11.547 26.150 Movie 12.806 0.442 00.001 6.090 (Treatment) Error 4.930 0073 Treatment Description LS Mean cAMP alone 0.052 1.282 Ryanodine 2.086 0.078 2-APB 0.010 0.090 Thapsigargin 0.055 0.022 0798 0.049 Staurosporine Post Hoc Tests: SNK Results 2-APB Thapsigargin Staurosporine cAMP alone Ryanodine 0.798 0.010 1.282 2.086 0.022 All treatments are significantly different at the.05 level with the exception of 2-APB and thapsigargin, both of which effectively attenuated any oscillatory response. Figure Legends: Fig 1. Characteristic responses of cells expressing TRPM7 to changes in external calcium. Perfusion occurred from 20 to 40 seconds. a. Individual cells, decreasing [Ca from 2mM to OmM b. Ten-cell average, decreasing Ca from 2mM to OmM c. Individual cells, increasing [Ca from OmM to 2mM d. Ten-cell average, increasing [Ca from OmM to 2mM Fig 2. Characteristic response to addition of exogenous cyclic AMP. ImM CAMP was added from 20 to 40 seconds. a. Individual cells b. Ten-cell average Fig 3. Frequency of oscillation in the presence of cGMP and cAMP. The number of oscillating cells in the region of interest was counted during repeated 2-minute sampling periods over the course of a 1 hour imaging trial. Heavy black bars indicate the periods in which the reagents were present. Fig 4. Oscillations per cell for different pharmacological treatments. Three rectangular regions were sub-sampled from the video of each trial. Data shown are least-squares means with error bars connoting standard error. See Appendix A: ANOVA for a more detailed comparison across treatment groups. Fig 5. Effects of thapsigargin on internal Cat stores. a. Addition of TuM thapsigargin occurs from 20 to 40 seconds. b. [Cai gradually decreases in the subsequent four minutes. c. Fifteen minutes later, perfusion with 100uM cAMP (from 20-40 s) has no discernible effect. Fig 6. Oscillations are broader and less frequent in the presence of staurosporine a. Representative plot of individual cell oscillations in the presence of 1OuM staurosporine (compare to Fig 3a) b. The ratio of peak height to peak width at half height was used as a metric for comparing peak shapes. Graphed values are means (n-20) with error bars denoting one standard deviation. Peaks were significantly broader with staurosporine (2-tailed t-test P.001) Fig la 0 0.9 - 0.8 - 07- Fig 1b 1.00- 0.95 0.90 - 0.85 - 0.80 - W 100 150 50 200 Time (seconds) 100 150 50 200 Time (seconds) V Fig lc 1.4 - 1.3- 1.1 - 1.0- Fig 1d 1.20: 1.15- 1.10: 1.05- 1.00 - 50 100 150 Time (seconds) 100 150 Time (seconds) 200 V 50 200 Fig 2a 2.5 — 2.0- 1.5- 1 10 50 Fig 2b 2.0- 1.8- 1.6 1.4 - 1.2: 10 ap; W 100 150 Time (seconds) 100 150 Time (seconds) A 200 200 50 Fig 3 50- 2 40- 8 6 30 20- 10: sa 0+ ktaaataa- 14 30 10 20 50 Time (minutes) ImM CGMP 1mM CAMP Fig 4 2.5 1.5 0.5 -0.5 CAMP alone Ryanodine + 2-APB Thapsigargin Staurosporine Fig. Sa 2.0 - 1.8 - 1.6 - 1.4 - 1.2 - 1.0 - Fig 5b 1.0- 09- 0.8 - 2 07- Fig 5c 1.03 — 1.02: 1.01- 100 0.99- 0.98 - 0.97: 50 50 100 150 Time (seconds) 100 150 Time (seconds) 150 100 Time (seconds) 200 200 200 50 Fig 6a 3.0- L 2.5 2.0- 1.5 - 1 50 Fig 6b Without Staurosporine V 100 150 200 Time (seconds) PO.001 With Staurosporine (1OuM)