Volume expansion stimulates p72(syk) and p56(lyn) in skate erythrocytes. (1/173)

Hypotonic volume expansion of skate erythrocytes rapidly stimulates the tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3, the membrane protein thought to mediate the osmotically sensitive taurine efflux. Skate erythrocytes possess numerous tyrosine kinases including p59fyn, p56lyn, pp60(src), and p72(syk), demonstrated by immune complex assays measuring autocatalytic kinase activity. Inclusion of the cytoplasmic domain of band 3 in this assay showed that only Syk and Lyn can directly phosphorylate the cytoplasmic domain of band 3. Upon cell volume expansion, Syk activity was increased as assessed by three different assays (immune complex assay measuring autophosphorylation, assay of the level of phosphotyrosine of the immunoprecipitated kinase, and assay of level of 32P in the kinase immunoprecipitated from cells prelabeled with 32PO4 and then volume-expanded). The tyrosine kinase Lyn was also stimulated by volume expansion, most notably when analyzed by the latter two methods. Volume expansion stimulated a large increase in the ability of Syk to phosphorylate band 3 at times that coincide with the stimulation of taurine flux. The stilbene piceatannol inhibited Syk preferentially over Lyn and other tyrosine kinases and inhibited volume-stimulated taurine efflux in a concentration-dependent manner similar to that for the inhibition of Syk. Two major phosphorylation peaks were detected in tryptic digests of cdb3 separated by reverse phase HPLC. Edman degradation demonstrated a phosphotyrosine in a YXXL motif. In conclusion, p72(syk) appears to be a strong candidate as a pivotal signal-transducing step in the volume-activated taurine efflux in skate red cells. The level of band-3 phosphorylation may be regulated, in addition, by a protein-tyrosine phosphatase of the 1B variety.  (+info)

Carrier-mediated uptake of lucifer yellow in skate and rat hepatocytes: a fluid-phase marker revisited. (2/173)

Uptake of lucifer yellow (LY), a fluorescent disulfonic acid anionic dye, was studied in isolated skate (Raja erinacea) perfused livers and primary hepatocytes to evaluate its utility as a fluid-phase marker in these cells. However, our findings demonstrated that LY is transported across the plasma membrane of skate hepatocytes largely via carrier-mediated mechanisms. Isolated perfused skate livers cleared 50% of the LY from the recirculating perfusate within 1 h of addition of either 22 or 220 microM LY, with only 4.5 and 9% of the LY remaining in the perfusate after 7 h, respectively. Most of the LY was excreted into bile, resulting in high biliary LY concentrations (1 and 10 mM at the two doses, respectively), indicating concentrative transport into bile canalicular lumen. LY uptake by freshly isolated skate hepatocytes was temperature sensitive, exhibited saturation kinetics, and was inhibited by other organic anions. Uptake was mediated by both sodium-dependent [Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)), 125 +/- 57 microM; maximal velocity (V(max)), 1.5 +/- 0.2 pmol. min(-1). mg cells(-1)] and sodium-independent (K(m), 207 +/- 55 microM; V(max), 1.7 +/- 0.2 pmol. min(-1). mg cells(-1)) mechanisms. Both of these uptake mechanisms were inhibited by various organic anions and transport inhibitors, including furosemide, bumetanide, sulfobromophthalein, rose bengal, probenecid, N-ethylmaleimide, taurocholate, and p-aminohippuric acid. Fluorescent imaging techniques showed intracellular vesicular compartmentation of LY in skate hepatocyte clusters. Studies in perfused rat livers also indicated that LY is taken up against a concentration gradient and concentrated in bile. LY uptake in isolated rat hepatocytes was saturable, but only at high concentrations, and demonstrated a K(m) of 3.7 +/- 1.0 mM and a V(max) of 1.75 +/- 0.16 nmol. min(-1). mg wet wt(-1). These results indicate that LY is transported into skate and rat hepatocytes and bile largely by carrier-mediated mechanisms, rather than by fluid-phase endocytosis.  (+info)

Primitive organization of cytosolic Ca(2+) signals in hepatocytes from the little skate Raja erinacea. (3/173)

Cytosolic Ca(2+) (Ca(i)(2+)) signals begin as polarized, inositol 1, 4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-mediated Ca(i)(2+) waves in mammalian epithelia, and this signaling pattern directs secretion together with other cell functions. To investigate whether Ca(i)(2+) signaling is similarly organized in elasmobranch epithelia, we examined Ca(i)(2+) signaling patterns and InsP3 receptor (InsP3R) expression in hepatocytes isolated from the little skate, Raja erinacea. Ca(i)(2+) signaling was examined by confocal microscopy, InsP3R expression by immunoblot, and the subcellular distribution of InsP3Rs by immunochemistry. ATP induced a rapid increase in Ca(i)(2+) in skate hepatocytes, as it does in mammalian hepatocytes. Unlike in mammalian hepatocytes, however, the Ca(i)(2+) increase in skate hepatocytes began randomly throughout the cell rather than in the apical region. In cells loaded with heparin ATP-induced Ca(i)(2+) signals were inhibited, but de-N-sulfated heparin was not inhibitory, suggesting that the increases in Ca(i)(2+) were mediated by InsP3. Immunoblot analysis showed that the type I but not the types II or III InsP3R was expressed in skate liver. Confocal immunofluorescence revealed that the InsP3R was distributed throughout the hepatocyte, rather than concentrated apically as in mammalian epithelia. These findings demonstrate that ATP-induced Ca(i)(2+) signals are mediated by InsP3 in skate hepatocytes, as they are in mammalian hepatocytes. However, in skate hepatocytes Ca(i)(2+) signals begin at loci throughout the cell rather than as an organized apical-to-basal Ca(i)(2+) wave, which is probably because the InsP3R is distributed throughout these cells. This primitive organization of Ca(i)(2+) signaling may in part explain the observation that Ca(2+)-mediated events such as secretion occur much less efficiently in elasmobranchs than in mammals.  (+info)

Bile salt excretion in skate liver is mediated by a functional analog of Bsep/Spgp, the bile salt export pump. (4/173)

Biliary secretion of bile salts in mammals is mediated in part by the liver-specific ATP-dependent canalicular membrane protein Bsep/Spgp, a member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily. We examined whether a similar transport activity exists in the liver of the evolutionarily primitive marine fish Raja erinacea, the little skate, which synthesizes mainly sulfated bile alcohols rather than bile salts. Western blot analysis of skate liver plasma membranes using antiserum raised against rat liver Bsep/Spgp demonstrated a dominant protein band with an apparent molecular mass of 210 kDa, a size larger than that in rat liver canalicular membranes, approximately 160 kDa. Immunofluorescent localization with anti-Bsep/Spgp in isolated, polarized skate hepatocyte clusters revealed positive staining of the bile canaliculi, consistent with its selective apical localization in mammalian liver. Functional characterization of putative ATP-dependent canalicular bile salt transport activity was assessed in skate liver plasma membrane vesicles, with [(3)H]taurocholate as the substrate. [(3)H]taurocholate uptake into the vesicles was mediated by ATP-dependent and -independent mechanisms. The ATP-dependent component was saturable, with a Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) for taurocholate of 40+/-7 microM and a K(m) for ATP of 0.6+/-0.1 mM, and was competitively inhibited by scymnol sulfate (inhibition constant of 23 microM), the major bile salt in skate bile. ATP-dependent uptake of taurocholate into vesicles was inhibited by known substrates and inhibitors of Bsep/Spgp, including other bile salts and bile salt derivatives, but not by inhibitors of the multidrug resistance protein-1 or the canalicular multidrug resistance-associated protein, indicating a distinct transport mechanism. These findings provide functional and structural evidence for a Bsep/Spgp-like protein in the canalicular membrane of the skate liver. This transporter is expressed early in vertebrate evolution and transports both bile salts and bile alcohols.  (+info)

Members of the Ikaros gene family are present in early representative vertebrates. (5/173)

Members of the Ikaros multigene family of zinc finger proteins are expressed in a tissue-specific manner and most are critical determinants in the development of both the B and T lymphocytes as well as NK and dendritic APC lineages. A PCR amplification strategy that is based on regions of shared sequence identity in Ikaros multigene family members found in mammals and several other vertebrates has led to the recovery of cDNAs that represent the orthologues of Ikaros, Aiolos, Helios, and Eos in Raja eglanteria (clearnose skate), a cartilaginous fish that is representative of an early divergence event in the phylogenetic diversification of the vertebrates. The tissue-specific patterns of expression for at least two of the four Ikaros family members in skate resemble the patterns observed in mammals, i.e., in hematopoietic tissues. Prominent expression of Ikaros in skate also is found in the lymphoid Leydig organ and epigonal tissues, which are unique to cartilaginous fish. An Ikaros-related gene has been identified in Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey), a jawless vertebrate species, in which neither Ig nor TCRs have been identified. In addition to establishing a high degree of evolutionary conservation of the Ikaros multigene family from cartilaginous fish through mammals, these studies define a possible link between factors that regulate the differentiation of immune-type cells in the jawed vertebrates and related factors of unknown function in jawless vertebrates.  (+info)

A primitive ATP receptor from the little skate Raja erinacea. (6/173)

P2Y ATP receptors are widely expressed in mammalian tissues and regulate a broad range of activities. Multiple subtypes of P2Y receptors have been identified and are distinguished both on a molecular basis and by pharmacologic substrate preference. Functional evidence suggests that hepatocytes from the little skate Raja erinacea express a primitive P2Y ATP receptor lacking pharmacologic selectivity, so we cloned and characterized this receptor. Skate hepatocyte cDNA was amplified with degenerate oligonucleotide probes designed to identify known P2Y subtypes. A single polymerase chain reaction product was found and used to screen a skate liver cDNA library. A 2314-base pair cDNA clone was generated that contained a 1074-base pair open reading frame encoding a 357-amino acid gene product with 61-64% similarity to P2Y(1) receptors and 21-37% similarity to other P2Y receptor subtypes. Pharmacology of the putative P2Y receptor was examined using the Xenopus oocyte expression system and revealed activation by a range of nucleotides. The receptor was expressed widely in skate tissue and was expressed to a similar extent in other primitive organisms. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that this receptor is closely related to a common ancestor of the P2Y subtypes found in mammals, avians, and amphibians. Thus, the skate liver P2Y receptor functions as a primitive P2Y ATP receptor with broad pharmacologic selectivity and is related to the evolutionary forerunner of P2Y(1) receptors of higher organisms. This novel receptor should provide an effective comparative model for P2Y receptor pharmacology and may improve our understanding of nucleotide specificity among the family of P2Y ATP receptors.  (+info)

ATP-dependent GSH and glutathione S-conjugate transport in skate liver: role of an Mrp functional homologue. (7/173)

Multidrug resistance-associated proteins 1 and 2 (Mrp1 and Mrp2) are thought to mediate low-affinity ATP-dependent transport of reduced glutathione (GSH), but there is as yet no direct evidence for this hypothesis. The present study examined whether livers from the little skate (Raja erinacea) express an Mrp2 homologue and whether skate liver membrane vesicles exhibit ATP-dependent GSH transport activity. Antibodies directed against mammalian Mrp2-specific epitopes labeled a 180-kDa protein band in skate liver plasma membranes and stained canaliculi by immunofluorescence, indicating that skate livers express a homologous protein. Functional assays of Mrp transport activity were carried out using (3)H-labeled S-dinitrophenyl-glutathione (DNP-SG). DNP-SG was accumulated in skate liver membrane vesicles by both ATP-dependent and ATP-independent mechanisms. ATP-dependent DNP-SG uptake was of relatively high affinity [Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) = 32 +/- 9 microM] and was cis-inhibited by known substrates of Mrp2 and by GSH. Interestingly, ATP-dependent transport of (3)H-labeled S-ethylglutathione and (3)H-labeled GSH was also detected in the vesicles. ATP-dependent GSH transport was mediated by a low-affinity pathway (K(m) = 12 +/- 2 mM) that was cis-inhibited by substrates of the Mrp2 transporter but was not affected by membrane potential or pH gradient uncouplers. These results provide the first direct evidence for ATP-dependent transport of GSH in liver membrane vesicles and support the hypothesis that GSH efflux from mammalian cells is mediated by members of the Mrp family of proteins.  (+info)

Novel polysialogangliosides of skate brain structural determination of tetra, penta and hexasialogangliosides with a NeuAc-GalNAc linkage. (8/173)

The gangliosides in the brain of a cartilaginous fish, skate (Bathyraja smirnovi), have been isolated and characterized by means of methylation analysis, antibody binding, enzymatic hydrolysis and MALDI-TOF MS. In addition to gangliosides with known structures (GM2, fucosyl-GM1, GD3, GD2, GT3 and GT2), five polysialogangliosides were isolated and characterized as having the following structures. (1) IV3NeuAc, III6NeuAc, II3NeuAc-Gg4Cer; (2) IV3NeuAc2, III6NeuAc, II3NeuAc-Gg4Cer; (3) IV3NeuAc, III6NeuAc, II3NeuAc2-Gg4Cer; (4) IV3NeuAc, III6NeuAc, II3NeuAc3-Gg4Cer; and (5) IV3NeuAc2, III6NeuAc, II3NeuAc3-Gg4Cer. These structures are 'hybrid-type' which comprise combinations of alpha-series and either a, b or c-series structures. Three gangliosides (2), (4) and (5), were novel. The main features of the ganglioside composition of skate brain were an abundance of gangliotriaosyl species, a lack of gangliotetraosyl species (except fucosyl-GM1), and an abundance of hybrid-types. These characteristics closely resemble those in shark brain which we reported previously [Nakamura, K., Tamai, Y. & Kasama, T. (1997) Neurochem. Int. 30, 593-604]. Two of the hybrid-type gangliosides (1) and (4), were examined for their neuritogenic activity toward cultured neuronal cells (Neuro-2A), and were found to have more potent activity than nonhybrid-type gangliosides such as GM1.  (+info)