Alternative splicing of the rat type 1 pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) receptor (PVR1) produces variants that couple either to both adenylyl cyclase (AC) and phospholipase C (PLC) (PVR1 short, PVR1 hop, PVR1 hiphop), or to AC alone (PVR1 hip). We have previously shown that populations of clonal alphaT3-1 gonadotrophs express PVR1 hop and PVR1 short mRNAs, whereas clonal GH4C1 somatotrophs do not. Here we have used the single cell RT-PCR technique to investigate whether normal rat gonadotrophs and somatotrophs express PVR1 mRNA, whether a single cell co-expresses multiple splice variant forms, and whether differential PVR1 mRNA expression correlates with differences in PACAP-stimulated Ca2+ signalling. We found that individual rat gonadotrophs expressed mRNA either for PVR1 hop, for PVR1 short, or co-expressed the two forms. Although we found no differences between the splice variant(s) expressed and the characteristics of PACAP-stimulated Ca2+ responses, the expression of PVR1 mRNA is consistent with the known PACAP stimulation of the PLC system in gonadotrophs. Individual rat somatotrophs also expressed PVR1 hop or PVR1 short (but not PVR1 hip) mRNAs although these forms were never co-expressed. The expression of PVR1 mRNA in somatotrophs can explain in part the activation by PACAP of the AC system in such cells. In conclusion, the single cell RT-PCR technique was used to demonstrate expression of multiple PVR1 splice variants in single identified pituitary cells. These findings open up important questions on the role of alternative splicing in cell biology.
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- Author: W Schlegel x
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L Bresson-Bepoldin, MC Jacquot, W Schlegel, and SR Rawlings
S L Li, C Godson, E Roche, S J Zhao, M Prentki, and W Schlegel
ABSTRACT
The role of cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in the induction of the immediate early gene c-fos by TRH or by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) was studied in the clonal pituitary cell line GH4C1. It was found that c-fos mRNA levels were rapidly and transiently increased by TRH at physiological concentrations (1–100 nm). The effect of TRH was dependent on a rise in [Ca2+]i, and TRH stimulation of Ca2+ influx was essential for c-fos induction. Cell depolarization with K+, which produces a [Ca2+]i rise by soliciting Ca2+ influx via voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, was insufficient to induce c-fos. Blockade or downregulation of protein kinase C (PKC) strongly attenuated TRH stimulation of c-fos expression. Direct stimulation of PKC by PMA raised c-fos mRNA levels, but only under conditions permitting Ca2+ influx. We conclude that TRH induces c-fos mRNA by a mechanism dependent on PKC activation and on Ca2+ influx. The essential role of Ca2+ influx for PMA stimulation of c-fos mRNA suggests a novel pathway linking PKC stimulation to early gene expression.
S L Li, N Cougnon, L Bresson-Bépoldin, S J Zhao, and W Schlegel
ABSTRACT
The expression of the immediate early gene c-fos was studied at the mRNA and the protein level in cells of the pituitary tumour cell line GH3B6. The induction of c-fos mRNA as detected by Northern blot analysis was stimulated by TRH and by depolarization with KCl, both leading to a rise in cytosolic free [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i), and also by epidermal growth factor (EGF). To assess the role of the changes in [Ca2+]i in the induction of c-fos, Ca2+ was chelated in the extracellular medium with EGTA to prohibit Ca2+ influx during stimulation, or intracellular Ca2+ stores were emptied by prolonged exposure to EGTA, a treatment which abolished all [Ca2+]i changes. In the latter case, the effect of TRH on c-fos mRNA expression was almost completely abolished, whereas EGF still caused substantial c-fos induction. Full induction of c-fos mRNA by TRH required a prolonged phase of stimulated Ca2+ influx. c-fos mRNA induction by TRH and KCl was markedly inhibited by two blockers of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaM kinase), KN-62 and calmidazolium. In contrast, KCl induction of c-fos and the effects of KN-62 on TRH induction of c-fos were not observed in a closely related pituitary line GH4C1 in which TRH exerts its effects on immediate early genes predominantly via the protein kinase C pathway. In GH3B6 cells stimulated with TRH or KCl, enhanced FOS protein levels were detected by immunofluorescence and localized in the nucleus with confocal microscopy. Analysis by immunoblotting showed that TRH induced two protein species with apparent molecular masses of 52 and 57 kDa. In GH3B6 cells stimulated with KCl or TRH, the 52 kDa species was mainly found whereas, in the GH4C1 cells, TRH predominantly stimulated the 57 kDa species. These data show that distinct signalling pathways (CaM kinase and protein kinase C) involve Ca2+ influx to induce the transcription of the early gene c-fos, and that the resulting FOS protein species may depend on the pathways involved.
