Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.4.1 (phosphodiesterase)
 18,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Behavioral sensitization of the gill-withdrawal reflex of Aplysia is the result of a prolonged increase in transmitter release from the presynaptic terminals of sensory neurons. Earlier work suggested that this presynaptic facilitation might be mediated by a serotonin-sensitive adenylate cyclase in the sensory neuron terminals. Here we present evidence that presynaptic facilitation results from a cyclic AMP-dependent increase in the calcium current that underlies action potentials in the sensory neurons. The action potentials of sensory neuron cell bodies have, in addition to a sodium current, a calcium current that is enhanced by blocking the opposing potassium current with tetraethylammonium. Under these conditions, the action potentials show a slowly repolarizing plateau that follows the Nernst potential for a calcium electrode and serves as a sensitive assay for changes in calcium current. Stimulation of the pathway that mediates sensitization, incubation with serotonin or phosphodiesterase inhibitors, or intracellular injection of cyclic AMP produces an increase in the calcium plateau in the presence of tetraethylammonium. In addition, both before and after sensitizing stimulation, the duration of the plateau potential parallels transmitter release as measured by the amplitude of monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials evoked in the motor neurons by intracellular stimulation of single sensory neurons. These results are consistent with the idea that presynaptic facilitation is caused by a cyclic AMP-mediated increase in a voltage-sensitive calcium current in sensory neuron presynaptic terminals. This synaptic action is novel in that it can produce little or no change in the resting potential, is of long duration, and exerts its influence directly on a conductance triggered by the action potential, rather than on non-voltage-sensitive conductances, as is typical of conventional synaptic actions.
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PMID:Presynaptic modulation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ current: mechanism for behavioral sensitization in Aplysia californica. 2 27

The phosphodiesterase (3':5'-cyclic AMP 5'-nucleotidohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.17) inhibitor thepohylline enhances both the amplitude and duration of a long-lasting synaptic hyperpolarization in identified neuron R15 in Aplysia californica. Intraneuronal injection into R15 of glanylyl-imidodiphosphate, an adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] activator, results in a deep and long-lasting hyperpolarization of the cell, similar to that produced by synaptic stimulation. Biochemical analysis confirms that guanylyl-imidodiphosphate activates adenylate cyclase in Aplysia californica nervous tissue, without affecting phosphodiesterase activity. These observations suggest that adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate plays a role in long-lasting synaptic inhibition and are consistent with a post-synaptic site of action for adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate.
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PMID:Intraneuronal guanylyl-imidodiphosphate injection mimics long-term synaptic hyperpolarization in Aplysia. 18 52

The neuroendocrine bag cells in the abdominal ganglion of Aplysia generate a long-lasting synchronous afterdischarge upon brief stimulation of an afferent pathway. After this afterdischarge the cells become refractory to further synaptic stimulation. We find that synchrony, afterdischarge, and prolonged refractoriness are properties that can be expressed in the isolated asomatic neurites of the bag cells. We have distinguished two independent types of refractoriness. The first (type I) is seen as a failure of action potentials generated in the tips of bag cell neurites to invade cell somata. The second form of refractoriness (type II) controls the duration of afterdischarge such that stimuli after the first afterdischarge produce only very short afterdischarges or fail to elicit an afterdischarge. Type II refractoriness is sensitive to serotonin and certain of its analogues, and to dopamine and the methylxanthine phosphodiesterase inhibitors. Extracellularly applied serotonin suppresses an ongoing afterdischarge while dopamine and the phosphodiesterase inhibitors, when applied at the end of the first afterdischarge, generate a subsequent afterdischarge of long duration without further electrical stimulation. None of these compounds influenced the degree of type I refractoriness. We have shown that both serotonin and dopamine stimulate the formation of cyclic AMP in the bag cell clusters and in the pleurovisceral connectives and that the occurrence of an afterdischarge is associated with a specific increase in total cyclic AMP in bag cell bodies. Moreover, afterdischarges can be generated in unstimulated preparations by extracellular application of the cyclic AMP analogues, 8-benzylthio-cyclic AMP or 8-methylthio-cyclic AMP. Our data suggest that serotonin and/or dopamine may control bag cell activity and that activation of adenylate cyclase is linked to bag cell afterdischarge.
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PMID:Neurotransmitter modulation, phosphodiesterase inhibitor effects, and cyclic AMP correlates of afterdischarge in peptidergic neurites. 21 16

The serotonergic metacerebral cell (MCC) of the mollusk Aplysia produces slow synaptic potentials in motor neurons of the buccal muscle, and increases the rate of ongoing rhythmic burst output of the buccal ganglion. In addition, the MCC acts peripherally to enhance the strength of buccal muscle contractions that are produced by firing of motor neurons. The potentiation of contraction is not associated with any detectable changes of resting membrane potential of muscle cells. Although MCC activity produces a small enhancement of excitatory junctional potentials, several experiments clearly indicate that the MCC has a direct potentiating effect on excitation-contraction coupling. The data suggest that potentiation of contraction might be mediated by cAMP. For example, activity of the MCC enchances the rate of accumulation of cAMP in buccal muscle, application of phosphodiesterase resistant analogs of cAMP potentiates muscle contraction, and a phosphodiesterase inhibitor enhances the effect of MCC stimulation. Recordings from free-moving animals indicate that the MCC becomes activated by exposure of the animal to food stimuli, and that the activation parallels the presence of a food-arousal state. Food-arousal is characterized by enhanced strength and increased frequency of biting responses. Both these effects can result from activity of the MCC. Thus, in this system, modulatory synaptic actions function to provide the substrate for a type behavioral modulation.
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PMID:Functional role of serotonergic neuromodulation in Aplysia. 22 Dec 69

An abdominal ganglion from an Aplysia californica is described, in which cell R15 has anomalously duplicated. The two cells exhibited a high degree of electrical coupling, assuring functional synchrony of output in the cells, which are characterized by a complex firing pattern. Exposure of this ganglion to the phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX caused a more altered firing rhythm in one of the cells, as well as an enhanced inhibitory component associated with the coupling potentials between cells, resulting in a loss of synchrony between the two cells.
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PMID:Duplication of a spontaneously active neuron in Aplysia: electrical coupling and effects of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. 45 42

In an attempt to investigate the role of cAMP-dependent phosphorylations on synaptic transmission at an Aplysia cholinergic buccal ganglion synapse, the effects of xanthine derivatives such as 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), which is well known to inhibit phosphodiesterase activity thereby promoting cAMP accumulation, and a novel xanthine derivative, S-9977-2 were evaluated. They were found to potentiate cholinergic transmission by significantly increasing the time constant of decay (Tc) of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs). The postsynaptic origin of the phenomenon was supported by the observation that responses to the ionophoretic application of acetylcholine (ACh) were also potentiated in duration as well as in amplitude. No effects of S-9977-2 on the ACh-gated Cl- channel conductance or mean open time were observed. The finding that responses to the hydrolysis-resistant cholinergic analogue carbachol were unaffected by the two xanthines suggested that the observed effects were at least partly caused by an inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. That these substances inhibit AChE activity was confirmed in vitro. Phosphorylation processes nonetheless appear to be partly involved in the synaptic effect of the xanthines as the kinase blocker H-8 blocked part of the IPSC Tc lengthening. Possible mechanisms are discussed.
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PMID:Xanthine derivatives IBMX and S-9977-2 potentiate transmission at an Aplysia central cholinergic synapse. 138 Aug 83

Depending on the number or the length of exposure, application of serotonin can produce either short-term or long-term presynaptic facilitation of Aplysia sensory-to-motor synapses. The cAMP-dependent protein kinase, a heterodimer of two regulatory and two catalytic subunits, has been shown to become stably activated only during long-term facilitation. Both acquisition of long-term facilitation and persistent activation of the kinase is blocked by anisomycin, an effective, reversible, and specific inhibitor of protein synthesis in Aplysia. We report here that 2-hr exposure of pleural sensory cells to serotonin lowers the concentration of regulatory subunits but does not change the concentration of catalytic subunits, as assayed 24 hr later; 5-min exposure to serotonin has no effect on either type of subunit. Increasing intracellular cAMP with a permeable analog of cAMP together with the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutyl methylxanthine also decreased regulatory subunits, suggesting that cAMP is the second messenger mediating serotonin action. Anisomycin blocked the loss of regulatory subunits only when applied with serotonin; application after the 2-hr treatment with serotonin had no effect. In the Aplysia accessory radula contractor muscle, prolonged exposure to serotonin or to the peptide transmitter small cardioactive peptide B, both of which produce large increases in intracellular cAMP, does not decrease regulatory subunits. This mechanism of regulating the cAMP-dependent protein kinase therefore may be specific to the nervous system. We conclude that during long-term facilitation, new protein is synthesized in response to the facilitatory stimulus, which changes the ratio of subunits of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. This alteration in ratio could persistently activate the kinase and produce the persistent phosphorylation seen in long-term facilitated sensory cells.
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PMID:Protein synthesis during acquisition of long-term facilitation is needed for the persistent loss of regulatory subunits of the Aplysia cAMP-dependent protein kinase. 169 22

Cyclic nucleotides have been implicated in many long-lasting transmitter-induced effects on membrane conductance. One previously observed effect of cAMP on molluscan neurons is to induce a slow inward current, which has been further evaluated here in depolarized anterior and medial cells of the pleural ganglion of Aplysia californica in order to understand better its underlying ionic mechanisms and its sensitivity to a variety of pharmacological agents. This current, which appears to be the only cAMP-induced current seen in the anterior cells, was shown to invert at about +25 mV, that is, approximately 25-30 mV inferior to ENa. This reversal potential was lowered by about 15-16 mV when half of the extracellular Na was replaced by either mannitol or N-methyl-D-glucamine, whereas it was unaffected by changes in extracellular Cl, Ca, or Mg. The response persisted in seawater in which the Na had been totally replaced by K, and its reversal potential shifted towards more negative values. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that both Na and K ions permeate the channel, with a Na/K permeability ratio of approximately 2. Ca ions do not appear to permeate the channel, but they do have a marked inhibitory effect on the response amplitude, as do Mg ions when Ca is not present. Caffeine, intracellular acidification, and phosphodiesterase inhibitors enhance and prolong the response without changing its reversal potential. Previous studies have shown that both caffeine and intracellular acidification inhibit phosphodiesterase, and it is assumed that the common effect of these manipulations on the cAMP-induced inward current is mediated, at least partially, by the inhibition of that enzyme. In the medial cells of the pleural ganglion, this slow inward current is present, but is dominated in the depolarized cell by a cAMP-induced diminution in a Ca-activated K conductance (Kehoe, 1985b). This K conductance and, consequently, the noninverting, cAMP-induced inward current that reflects its diminution, were shown to disappear in Ca-free solutions, in the presence of isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) or caffeine, and upon acidification of the cytoplasm. When this cAMP-sensitive K conductance is blocked, the presence of the inverting cAMP-induced cationic current is unmasked. The cAMP-induced cationic current is shown to have many properties in common with cyclic nucleotide-induced currents described in photoreceptors, olfactory receptor cilia, and cardiac myocytes, all of which have been shown to be outwardly rectifying cationic currents that are inhibited by divalent cations and do not involve the activation of a cAMP-dependent kinase.
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PMID:Cyclic AMP-induced slow inward current in depolarized neurons of Aplysia californica. 169 40

Three presynaptic neurons, monosynaptically connected to the medial cells of the pleural ganglion of Aplysia californica and previously shown to elicit cAMP-mediated diminutions in K conductance in those cells (Kehoe, 1985a, b), were shown to elicit still another slow synaptic current that resembles the cAMP-induced cationic current described in the preceding paper (Kehoe, 1990). The synaptic current elicited by these so-called "blocking" neurons was compared, in hyperpolarized medial cells, with the current induced by an intracellular injection of cAMP. It was found that (1) both currents show an outward rectification, (2) both currents are enhanced and prolonged by phosphodiesterase inhibitors (as well as by intracellular acidification of the postsynaptic neuron and by bath-applied caffeine), and (3) both currents react in the same way to changes in (Ca)0, showing a net enhancement when (Ca)0 is reduced and, conversely, a marked diminution when extracellular (Ca)0 is increased. The increase in amplitude of the slow synaptic current in low-Ca solutions and its decrease in high-Ca seawater are contrary to the changes that would be expected from the known effects of Ca on transmitter release at chemical synapses, revealing the overriding importance of the postsynaptic block by Ca. The data presented here strongly suggest that both the slow inward current and the diminutions in K conductance induced by the firing of the 3 blocking neurons are mediated by cAMP. Like the 2 cAMP-mediated diminutions in K conductance (Kehoe, 1985a, b), the cAMP-activated slow inward current, because of its atypical voltage dependence, both depolarizes the medial cell and causes an increase in its input resistance at resting potential. Consequently, the synaptically activated increase in cAMP prolongs the excitability of the medial cells for up to tens of seconds after the end of presynaptic firing.
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PMID:Cyclic AMP-induced slow inward current: its synaptic manifestation in Aplysia neurons. 169 41

Synapses between the sensory and motor cells of Aplysia can be enhanced by heterosynaptic or homosynaptic stimulation. We have used the isolated sensorimotor synapse of Aplysia in cell culture to explore short- and long-term heterosynaptic facilitation produced by 2 facilitatory transmitters and compared these to homosynaptic facilitation produced by posttetanic potentiation. We found that brief application of 5-HT or small cardioactive peptide (SCP) evokes comparable short-lasting enhancement of nondepressed sensorimotor synapses. The effect evoked by SCP diverges from that of 5-HT when the sensorimotor synapse is first depressed by low-frequency homosynaptic stimulation. Whereas 5-HT facilitates sensorimotor synapses whether or not they are depressed, SCP has little or no effect on synapses that have been depressed by more than 75%. The 2 transmitters also differ in producing long-term facilitation. Whereas repeated applications of 5-HT evoke long-term facilitation of the synapses, SCP applications do not. To determine whether these failures to facilitate could be overcome by increasing levels of cAMP, we applied SCP in the presence of phosphodiesterase inhibitors, which resulted in SCP evoking both short- and long-term changes comparable to that of 5-HT. Homosynaptic facilitation by post-tetanic potentiation differed from heterosynaptic facilitation in that tetanic stimulation failed to evoke long-lasting changes in the synapse. These results support recent findings that 5-HT is a critical neuromodulator in behavioral sensitization and dishabituation and suggest that critical levels of cAMP may be required for long- and short-term facilitation of depressed synapses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Selective short- and long-term effects of serotonin, small cardioactive peptide, and tetanic stimulation on sensorimotor synapses of Aplysia in culture. 169 45


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