Anti-ischemic and membrane stabilizing activity of calmodulin inhibitors

Calcium-calmodulin modulation of the activity of Na+/H+ exchanger in human platelets

This study aimed at establishing the role of calmodulin in regulating pHi of human platelets under acid loads and in stimulated states. The response of human platelets to thrombin was an initial drop of pHi followed by a recovery with a significant increase above the pre-stimulation level in control experiments and a recovery to initial values in platelets maintained in the presence of 19 mmol/l TFP (trifluoperazine = 2 trifluoromethyl-10 [3'-(1 methyl-4-piperazinyl) propyl] phenothiazine). The change in pHi after 8 min was 0.130 +/- 0.030 in the control and 0.001 +/- 0.011 pH units in TFP (P < 0.05). The initial velocity of recovery from an acid load was reduced to 56.7 +/- 6% of the control (n = 6, P < 0.05) with 50 mumol/l W7 (N-(6 aminohexyl)-5-chloro-l-naphthalene sulphonamide), and to 29.7 +/- 4.3% of the control (n = 8, P < 0.05) with 19 mumol/l TFP. The initial velocity of recovery was significantly greater in recalcified platelets than in the preparations kept in the nominal absence of extracellular calcium (1.08 +/- 0.12 vs 0.66 +/- 0.12 pH units per min, P < 0.05). Lower concentration of TFP had an inhibitory effect only in the presence of calcium. The velocities of recovery reached similar values at higher TFP concentration. The significant interaction between Ca2+ and TFP concentrations indicates that the Ca-calmodulin complex, rather than an unspecified direct action of TFP, is responsible for the modulation of the Na+/H+ exchanger. These findings indicate that calcium-calmodulin participates in both the recovery of pH after an acid load and the increase of pHi in stimulated states of human platelets.

Intracellular calcium dynamics in mouse model of myocardial stunning

Intracellular calcium (Cai2+) and left ventricular (LV) function were determined in the coronary-perfused mouse heart to study Cai2+-related mechanisms of injury from myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Specifics for loading of the photoprotein aequorin into isovolumically contracting mouse hearts under constant-flow conditions are provided. The method allows detection of changes in Cai2+ on a beat-to-beat basis in a model of myocardial stunning and permits correlation of interventions that regulate Ca2+ exchange with functional alterations. Twenty-three coronary-perfused mouse hearts were subjected to 15 min of ischemia followed by 20 min of reperfusion. In 13 hearts, the perfusate included the calmodulin antagonist W7 (10 microM) to inhibit Ca(2+)-calmodulin-regulated mechanisms. Peak Cai2+ was 0.77 +/- 0.03 microM in the control group and was unaffected by W7 at baseline. Ischemia was characterized by a rapid decline in LV function, followed by ischemic contracture, accompanied by a gradual rise in Cai2+. Reperfusion was characterized by an initial burst of Cai2+ and a gradual recovery to nearly normal systolic Cai2+ while LV pressure recovered to 55% after 20 min of reperfusion (stunned myocardium). These results in the mouse heart confirm that stunning does not result from deficiency of Cai2+ but rather from a decreased myofilament responsiveness to Cai2+ due to changes in the myofilaments themselves. In hearts perfused with W7, the rise in Cai2+ during ischemia was significantly attenuated, as was the magnitude of mean Cai2+ during early reflow. Ischemic contracture was abolished or delayed. Hearts perfused with W7 showed significantly improved recovery of LV pressure, rate of contraction, and rate of relaxation. Diastolic Cai2+ was increased in control hearts during stunning but returned to baseline in hearts perfused with W7. Simultaneous assessment of Cai2+ and LV function demonstrates that calmodulin-regulated mechanisms may contribute to the pathogenesis of myocardial stunning in the mouse heart.

The calmodulin antagonist trifluoperazine in transient focal brain ischemia in rats. Anti-ischemic effect and therapeutic window

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

This study was performed to assess the efficacy and the therapeutic window for the calmodulin antagonist trifluoperazine in experiments involving transient middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion.

METHODS

Male Wistar rats were subjected to transient (2 hours) MCA occlusion by an intraluminal filament technique. Trifluoperazine (5.0 mg.kg-1) was injected intraperitoneally 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours after the induction of ischemia. Drug administration was repeated 24 hours after the first injection. Neurological scores and infarct volumes were evaluated at 48 hours of reperfusion. The effect of trifluoperazine on cortical blood flow was studied with continuous laser-Doppler flowmetry.

RESULTS

The median value of neurological scores in the control rats (n = 7) was 3, while those in the treated groups were 1 (5-minute group; n = 7, P < .05) and 2 (1-hour and 2-hour groups; each n = 7). The percentage of infarct volume in the control rats was 34.8 +/- 4.9% (mean +/- SD), while those in the treated groups were 11.3 +/- 12.3% (5-minute group; P < .01), 24.8 +/- 15.1% (1-hour group), and 28.8 +/- 8.3% (2-hour group). Trifluoperazine, given at 5 minutes after ischemia, had no influence on blood flow in the neocortical penumbra during and after ischemia.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate that trifluoperazine markedly reduces infarct volume after 2 hours of MCA occlusion when given 5 minutes after the induction of ischemia. However, the therapeutic window for trifluoperazine seems narrow since the drug had no significant effect when given after 1 or 2 hours.

Signal transduction in myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion

Recent studies in the non-ischaemic myocardium indicated that drugs stimulating cAMP formation inhibit alpha 1-mediated inositol phosphate generation, while alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation lowered tissue cAMP levels, implicating cross-talk between alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic signalling pathways in normal physiological conditions. Massive amounts of endogenous catecholamines, predominantly noradrenaline, are released during myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion, causing stimulation of both alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic receptors which, in turn, may contribute to intracellular Ca2+ overload and subsequent cell damage. Since no information is available regarding cross-talk in pathophysiological conditions, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interactions between alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic signalling pathways during different periods of ischaemia and reperfusion. Isolated rat hearts were perfused retrogradely for 30 min before being subjected to (i) 5-25 min global ischaemia and (ii) 1-5 min of reperfusion after 20 min global ischaemia. Drugs (prazosin, 10(-7) M; propranolol, 10(-6) M; phenylephrine 3 x 10(-5) M; isoproterenol 10(-9) M) were added 10 min before the onset of ischaemia and were present during reperfusion. Increasing periods of ischaemia caused an immediate rise and progressive lowering in tissue cAMP and Ins(1,4,5)P3 levels respectively. In contrast, reperfusion caused an elevation in Ins(1,4,5)P3 levels and reduced cAMP. Prazosin elevated cAMP levels during both ischaemia and reperfusion, while propranolol had no effects on tissue Ins(1,4,5)P3. The activity of the alpha 1-adrenergic signal transduction pathway appears to have an inhibitory effect on the activity of the beta-adrenergic system during ischaemia and reperfusion.

Distinct mechanisms of inhibition of purified cardiac sarcolemma Ca(2+)-ATPase by two calmodulin antagonists

The effects of calmidazolium and compound 48/80 were studied in four different states of activation of the purified Ca(2+)-ATPase from cardiac sarcolemma: "basal" or unactivated, activated by calmodulin, activated by phosphatidylserine, and activated by controlled trypsinization. When assayed in the presence of phosphatidylcholine as the sole phospholipid (basal state), the purified enzyme was resistant to inhibition by calmidazolium (0.1 to 3 microM). In the same range, calmidazolium inhibited the enzyme activated by controlled proteolysis as well as the calmodulin-activated enzyme regardless of the calmodulin concentration. The phosphatidylserine-activated enzyme was inhibited at higher calmidazolium concentrations due to non-specific trapping of the inhibitor by the excess of phospholipid. Addition of calmidazolium did not modify the K0.5 for calcium activation of ATP hydrolysis by the enzyme. The inhibition by calmidazolium was counteracted by Pi. Compound 48/80 also had no effect on the enzyme when only phosphatidylcholine was present and, like calmidazolium, it inhibited the calmodulin-activated enzyme and the phosphatidylserine-activated enzyme. The apparent Ki for inhibition by compound 48/80 was dependent on the calmodulin concentration. However, the enzyme activated by controlled trypsinization was insensitive to compound 48/80. Binding of 48/80 to the enzyme in the presence of phosphatidylserine or calmodulin reversed the increased affinity for Ca2+ caused by these activators.

Hydrogen peroxide stimulates phospholipase A2-mediated arachidonic acid release in cultured intestinal epithelial cells (INT 407)

The mechanisms by which hydrogen peroxide and, for comparison, 4-beta-phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) stimulate release of radiolabeled arachidonic acid (14C-AA) in cultured intestinal epithelial cells (INT 407) were investigated. Both hydrogen peroxide and PMA caused a rapid (3 min) and dose-related intracellular release of free 14C-AA, followed by a dose- and time-dependent release of 14C-AA into the extracellular medium, but hydrogen peroxide was about 50,000 times less effective than PMA in releasing 14C-AA. No 14C-AA was released on stimulation with 4-alpha-phorbol-12,13-di-decanoate (PDD), a phorbol ester that does not activate protein kinase C. The 14C-AA release was reduced by the phospholipase A2 inhibitors nordihydroguaiaretic acid and 4-bromophenacyl bromide and by the calmodulin/protein kinase C inhibitor trifluoperazine and the protein kinase C inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7). However, H-7 was less effective than the other inhibitors in reducing the hydrogen peroxide-stimulated 14C-AA release. The hydrogen peroxide-stimulated, but not the PMA-stimulated, rapid (3 min) 14C-AA release was associated with an increased influx of extracellular calcium. Stimulation of the cells with PMA resulted in phosphorylation of a cellular protein of about 32 kDa, whereas no phosphorylation of this protein was detected after stimulation with hydrogen peroxide. Taken together, these findings indicate that (i) both PMA and hydrogen peroxide may stimulate phospholipase A2-mediated AA release from human intestinal epithelial cells; (ii) this stimulation is brought about via protein kinase C and calmodulin-mediated events; (iii) PMA-stimulated 14C-AA release is associated with phosphorylation of a 32-kDa protein, possibly lipocortin, whereas the hydrogen peroxide-stimulated release is not; and (iv) calmodulin is more important for the hydrogen peroxide-stimulated 14C-AA release than is protein kinase C. The possibility that hydrogen peroxide-evoked AA release may contribute to the mucosal abnormality in Crohn's disease is discussed.