Inhibition of the Electrogenic Na Pump Underlies Delayed Depolarization of Cortical Neurons After Mechanical Injury or Glutamate

Tavalin, Steven J., Earl. F. Ellis, and Leslie S. Satin. Inhibition of the electrogenic Na pump underlies delayed depolarization of cortical neurons after mechanical injury or glutamate. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 632–638, 1997. We previously characterized the electrophysiological response of cortical neurons to a brief sublethal stretch-injury using an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury. This model revealed that cortical neurons undergo a stretch-induced delayed depolarization (SIDD) of their resting membrane potential (RMP) which is ∼10 mV in magnitude. SIDD is dependent on N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation, neuronal firing, and extracellular calcium for its induction but not its maintenance. SIDD was maximal 1 h after the insult and required incubation at 37°C. The present study examined the mechanism mediating SIDD and its relation to glutamate receptor activation. The Na pump inhibitor ouabain was used to assess the contribution of the Na pump to the RMP of control and stretched neurons using whole cell patch-clamp techniques. The nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor Nω-nitro-L-arginine and a polyethylene glycol conjugate of superoxide dismutase were used to assess whether NO or superoxide anion, respectively, were involved in the induction of SIDD. Neurons were exposed to exogenous glutamate in the absence of cell stretch to determine whether glutamate alone can mimic SIDD. We report that SIDD is mediated by Na pump inhibition and is likely to result from reduced energy levels since the RMP of neurons dialyzed with a pipette solution containing 5 mM ATP were identical to controls. NO, but not superoxide anion, also may contribute to SIDD. A 3-min exposure to 10 μM glutamate produced a SIDD-like depolarization also associated with Na pump inhibition. The results suggest that Na pump inhibition secondary to alterations in cellular energetics underlies SIDD. Na pump inhibition due to glutamate exposure may contribute to traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative diseases linked to glutamate receptor activation.

Monkey cerebral arterial relaxation caused by hypercapnic acidosis and hypertonic bicarbonate

In helical strips of Japanese monkey cerebral arteries contracted with vasoconstrictors, applications of high CO2 (15% compared with 5% CO2 in control media) and hypertonic NaHCO3 (50 mM) produced relaxations. Similar relaxations were also obtained in human cerebral arterial strips. Hypercapnia increased PCO2 and resulted in acidosis in the bathing media, and the addition of NaHCO3 restored the pH to normal with high PCO2 and increased the osmotic pressure. The relaxant responses were not influenced by endothelium denudation and treatment with indomethacin. The hypercapnia-induced relaxation was suppressed by ouabain but was unaffected by amiloride. On the other hand, hypertonic bicarbonate-induced relaxations were inhibited by ouabain as well as by amiloride. Removal of Na+ from the bathing media abolished the hypercapnia-induced relaxation but did not alter the hyperosmolar relaxation. In contrast to hypertonic NaHCO3, isotonic bicarbonate solutions contracted the arterial strips by neutralizing the pH under hypercapnia. It may be concluded that relaxations elicited by hypercapnic acidosis are associated with a fall of extracellular pH and an activation of the electrogenic Na+ pump, and those caused by hyperosmolarity are due to stimulation of the Na(+)-H+ exchange and the Na+ pump. Endothelium-derived vasoactive substances and cyclooxygenase products do not appear to be involved in these relaxations of monkey cerebral arteries under the experimental conditions used.

Mechanism underlying mannitol-induced relaxation in isolated monkey cerebral arteries

The addition of mannitol (25, 50, and 100 mM) increased osmotic pressures of the bathing media from 293 to 317, 340 and 383 mosmol, respectively, and elicited a dose-related relaxation in monkey cerebral artery strips precontracted with K+ or prostaglandin F2 alpha. This relaxation was attenuated by ouabain, amiloride, catalase and oxyhemoglobin but was not influenced by superoxide dismutase and indomethacin. Combined treatment of the strips exposed to ouabain and amiloride with catalase produced an additional inhibition. H2O2 produced a contraction, which was abolished by catalase. Replacement of entire NaCl with choline chloride markedly suppressed the mannitol-induced relaxation. Relaxations caused by the addition of hypertonic NaHCO3 (25 and 50 mM) were also attenuated by ouabain and amiloride but were unaffected by catalase and oxyhemoglobin. It may be concluded that the mannitol-induced cerebroarterial relaxation is associated with an activation of the electrogenic Na+ pump and the Na(+)-H+ exchange and probably with scavenging of hydroxyl radicals responsible for the arterial contraction. On the other hand, hypertonic NaHCO3 relaxes monkey cerebral arteries, possibly due to an activation of the Na+ pump and the Na(+)-H+ exchange.

Altered smooth muscle contraction and sodium pump activity in the inflamed rat intestine

We examined changes in membrane function underlying the increased contractility of jejunal longitudinal muscle to carbachol in rats infected 6 days previously with Trichinella spiralis. Muscarinic receptor characteristics were examined in particulate fractions using [N-methyl-3H]scopolamine (NMS). There was a significant reduction in the total number of binding sites on muscle from infected rats, but the affinity for NMS was unchanged. Similarly, in competition studies, the binding of carbachol to high or low affinity sites was not significantly different in tissue from control or infected rats. However, we observed an 89% suppression of the activity of K+ -stimulated ouabain-sensitive p-nitrophenylphosphatase (pNPPase), an enzyme marker for the Na+ -K+ pump, in plasma membranes from infected compared with control rats. Similar results were obtained in 86Rb uptake studies. In contractility studies, evidence for the electrogenicity of the Na+ -K+ pump was obtained by demonstrating that pump activation by K+, Rb+, or Cs+ was associated with tissue relaxation with a rank order of potency that was identical to that for stimulation of pNPPase activity by these ions. Conversely, pump inhibition by vanadate increased tone and abolished phasic contractions in muscle from control or infected rats. This was accompanied by an increased response to carbachol in muscle from control but not infected rats. In addition, pump inhibition by removing extracellular K increased tone in control tissue but decreased tone in muscle from T. spiralis-infected rats, presumably because of preexisting pump suppression. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that suppression of electrogenic Na-pump activity contributes to the increased contractility of jejunal muscle in rats infected with T. spiralis.

Mechanisms underlying response to hypercapnia and bicarbonate of isolated dog cerebral arteries

In helical strips of dog cerebral arteries contracted with K+ or prostaglandin F2 alpha, the increase in CO2 from 5 to 15% in the gas aerating the bathing media produced a persistent relaxation in association with a rise of PCO2 and a fall of pH and PO2. Elevation of the NaHCO3 concentration from 25 to 75 mM in the bathing media under hypercapnia almost reversed the arterial tone when the osmolarity was balanced; the pH was completely reversed, whereas PCO2 was maintained at the high level. When 50 mM NaHCO3 were applied to the hypercapnic media without having the osmolarity balanced, the arteries relaxed further. Infusions of the HCl solution lowered the pH and relaxed the arterial strips; however, such a relaxation was significantly less than that caused by hypercapnia-induced acidosis. Relaxant responses to hypercapnia were attenuated by treatment with ouabain but were not influenced by amiloride and superoxide dismutase or by removal of endothelium. Relaxations due to hypertonic NaHCO3 were abolished or reversed to contractions by ouabain and were reduced by treatment with amiloride. It may be concluded that the hypercapnia-induced cerebroarterial relaxation is associated mainly with a fall of extracellular pH and is mediated partly by an activation of the electrogenic Na+ pump. Cerebral vasodilatation by increased osmolarity with NaHCO3 appears to result from stimulated Na+-H+ exchange and activated Na+ pump.

Calcium-Dependent Action Potentials in Giant Salivary Gland Cells of the Leech: Haementeria Ghilianii: Calcium Removal Induces Dependence on Sodium

1. An electrophysiological study was made of the giant, non-coupled salivary gland cells of the leech Haementeria ghilianii (de Filippi, 1849). 2. Resting membrane potential (−40 mV to −80 mV) was primarily dependent on K+, with a small contribution from a Na+ conductance and an electrogenic Na+ pump. Resting Cl− permeability was low. 3. The cells generated overshooting action potentials (70–110 mV, 100–400 ms) which appeared to be mediated exclusively by Ca2+ because they were unaffected by removal of external Na+ and were blocked by 5 mmoll−1 Co2+. 4. Removal of external Ca2+ and addition of 1 mmoll−1 EGTA produced spontaneous action potentials of reduced amplitude (peaking at about 0 mV) and greatly increased duration [typically tens of seconds but sometimes resulting in sustained depolarizations (plateau potentials) extending up to 30min or more]. Action potential amplitude was then dependent on external Na+ concentration, and action potentials were abolished by removal of Na+. The responses were locked by 5 mmoll−1 Co2+, indicating that they were produced by Na+ flowing through Ca2+ channels. 5. Addition of micromolar concentrations of Ca2+ to Ca2+ free saline decreased spike duration and amplitude, suggesting a competition between Na+ and Ca2+. 6. An electrogenic Na+ pump was activated by removal of Ca2+, presumably as result of the influx of Na+ during spiking; this produced large increases in membrane potential which occurred spontaneously or when Ca2+ was reintroduced. 7. In normal saline, spike overshoot and duration were increased when the temperature was lowered by 10°C, whereas in Ca2+-free solution, they were reduced by this change. This suggests that the Ca2+ channel may be differentially affected by cooling, depending on the presence or absence of Ca+