Thyrotropin-releasing hormone-induced down-regulation of pyroglutamyl aminopeptidase II activity involves L-type calcium channels and cam kinase activities in cultures of adenohypophyseal cells

Tanycytes control the hormonal output of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis

The hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis maintains circulating thyroid hormone levels in a narrow physiological range. As axons containing thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) terminate on hypothalamic tanycytes, these specialized glial cells have been suggested to influence the activity of the HPT axis, but their exact role remained enigmatic. Here, we demonstrate that stimulation of the TRH receptor 1 increases intracellular calcium in tanycytes of the median eminence via Gα_q/11 proteins. Activation of Gα_q/11 pathways increases the size of tanycyte endfeet that shield pituitary vessels and induces the activity of the TRH-degrading ectoenzyme. Both mechanisms may limit the TRH release to the pituitary. Indeed, blocking TRH signaling in tanycytes by deleting Gα_q/11 proteins in vivo enhances the response of the HPT axis to the chemogenetic activation of TRH neurons. In conclusion, we identify new TRH- and Gα_q/11-dependent mechanisms in the median eminence by which tanycytes control the activity of the HPT axis.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis regulates a wide range of physiological processes. Here the authors show that hypothalamic tanycytes play a role in the homeostatic regulation of the HPT axis; activation of TRH signaling in tanycytes elevates their intracellular Ca²⁺ via Gα_q/11 pathway, ultimately resulting in reduced TRH release into the pituitary vessels.

L-type calcium channels and MAP kinase contribute to thyrotropin-releasing hormone-induced depolarization in thalamic paraventricular nucleus neurons

In rat paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) neurons, activation of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) receptors enhances neuronal excitability via concurrent decrease in a G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying K (GIRK)-like conductance and opening of a cannabinoid receptor-sensitive transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC)-like conductance. Here, we investigated the calcium (Ca(2+)) contribution to the components of this TRH-induced response. TRH-induced membrane depolarization was reduced in the presence of intracellular BAPTA, also in media containing nominally zero [Ca(2+)]o, suggesting a critical role for both intracellular Ca(2+) release and Ca(2+) influx. TRH-induced inward current was unchanged by T-type Ca(2+) channel blockade, but was decreased by blockade of high-voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels (HVACCs). Both the pharmacologically isolated GIRK-like and the TRPC-like components of the TRH-induced response were decreased by nifedipine and increased by BayK8644, implying Ca(2+) influx via L-type Ca(2+) channels. Only the TRPC-like conductance was reduced by either thapsigargin or dantrolene, suggesting a role for ryanodine receptors and Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release in this component of the TRH-induced response. In pituitary and other cell lines, TRH stimulates MAPK. In PVT neurons, only the GIRK-like component of the TRH-induced current was selectively decreased in the presence of PD98059, a MAPK inhibitor. Collectively, the data imply that TRH-induced depolarization and inward current in PVT neurons involve both a dependency on extracellular Ca(2+) influx via opening of L-type Ca(2+) channels, a sensitivity of a TRPC-like component to intracellular Ca(2+) release via ryanodine channels, and a modulation by MAPK of a GIRK-like conductance component.

Electroosmotic perfusion of tissue: sampling the extracellular space and quantitative assessment of membrane-bound enzyme activity in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures

This review covers recent advances in sampling fluid from the extracellular space of brain tissue by electroosmosis (EO). Two techniques, EO sampling with a single fused-silica capillary and EO push-pull perfusion, have been developed. These tools were used to investigate the function of membrane-bound enzymes with outward-facing active sites, or ectoenzymes, in modulating the activity of the neuropeptides leu-enkephalin and galanin in organotypic-hippocampal-slice cultures (OHSCs). In addition, the approach was used to determine the endogenous concentration of a thiol, cysteamine, in OHSCs. We have also investigated the degradation of coenzyme A in the extracellular space. The approach provides information on ectoenzyme activity, including Michaelis constants, in tissue, which, as far as we are aware, has not been done before. On the basis of computational evidence, EO push-pull perfusion can distinguish ectoenzyme activity with a ~100 μm spatial resolution, which is important for studies of enzyme kinetics in adjacent regions of the rat hippocampus.

Nitric oxide-mediated modulation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II

The mechanisms of NO inhibition of CaMK [Ca2+/CaM (calmodulin)-dependent protein kinase] II activity were studied. In rat pituitary tumour GH3 cells, TRH [thyrotrophin (TSH)-releasing hormone]-stimulated phosphorylation of nNOS [neuronal NOS (NO synthase)] at Ser847 was sensitive to an inhibitor of CaMKs, KN-93, and was enhanced by inhibition of nNOS with 7NI (7-nitroindazole). Enzyme activity of CaMKII following in situ treatment with 7NI was also increased. The in vitro activity of CaMKII was inhibited by co-incubation either with nNOS and L-arginine or with NO donors SNAP (S-nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine) and DEA-NONOate [diethylamine-NONOate (diazeniumdiolate)]. Once inhibited by these treatments, CaMKII was observed to undergo full reactivation on the addition of a reducing reagent, DTT (dithiothreitol). In transfected cells expressing CaMKII and nNOS, treatment with the calcium ionophore A23187 further revealed nNOS phosphorylation at Ser847, which was enhanced by 7NI and CaMKII S-nitrosylation. Mutated CaMKII (C6A), in which Cys6 was substituted with an alanine residue, was refractory to 7NI-induced enhancement of nNOS phosphorylation or to CaMKII S-nitrosylation. Furthermore, we could identify Cys6 as a direct target for S-nitrosylation of CaMKII using MS. In addition, treatment with glutamate caused an increase in CaMKII S-nitrosylation in rat hippocampal slices. This glutamate-induced S-nitrosylation was blocked by 7NI. These results suggest that inactivation of CaMKII mediated by S-nitrosylation at Cys6 may contribute to NO-induced neurotoxicity in the brain.