Protective effect of berberine chloride against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity

Background Cisplatin (CP) is an effective anticancer drug broadly used for various types of cancers, but it has shown ototoxicity that results from oxidative stress. Berberine has been reported for its anti-oxidative stress suggesting its therapeutic potential for many diseases such as colitis, diabetes, and vascular dementia. Objective Organ of Corti of postnatal day 3 mouse cochlear explants were used to compare hair cells after the treatment with cisplatin alone or with berberine chloride (BC) followed by CP. Methods We investigated the potential of the anti-oxidative effect of BC against the cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. We observed a reduced aberrant bundle of stereocilia in hair cells in CP with BC pre-treated group. Caspase-3 immunofluorescence and TUNEL assay supported the hypothesis that BC attenuates the apoptotic signals induced by CP. Reactive oxygen species level in the mitochondria were investigated by MitoSOX Red staining and the mitochondrial membrane potentials were compared by JC-1 assay. Results BC decreased ROS generation with preserved mitochondrial membrane potentials in mitochondria as well as reduced DNA fragmentation in hair cells. In summary, our data indicate that BC might act as antioxidant against CP by reducing the stress in mitochondria resulting in cell survival. Conclusion Our result suggests the therapeutic potential of BC for prevention of the detrimental effect of CP-induced ototoxicity.

KCNQ and KCNE Isoform-Dependent Pharmacology Rationalizes Native American Dual Use of Specific Plants as Both Analgesics and Gastrointestinal Therapeutics

Indigenous peoples of the Americas are proficient in botanical medicine. KCNQ family voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels are sensitive to a variety of ligands, including plant metabolites. Here, we screened methanolic extracts prepared from 40 Californian coastal redwood forest plants for effects on Kv current and membrane potential in Xenopus oocytes heterologously expressing KCNQ2/3, which regulates excitability of neurons, including those that sense pain. Extracts from 9 of the 40 plant species increased KCNQ2/3 current at –60 mV by ≥threefold (maximally, 15-fold by Urtica dioica) and/or hyperpolarized membrane potential by ≥-3 mV (maximally, –11 mV by Arctostaphylos glandulosa). All nine plants have traditionally been used as both analgesics and gastrointestinal therapeutics. Of two extracts tested, both acted as KCNQ-dependent analgesics in mice. KCNQ2/3 activation at physiologically relevant, subthreshold membrane potentials by tannic acid, gallic acid and quercetin provided molecular correlates for analgesic action of several of the plants. While tannic acid also activated KCNQ1 and KCNQ1-KCNE1 at hyperpolarized, negative membrane potentials, it inhibited KCNQ1-KCNE3 at both negative and positive membrane potentials, mechanistically rationalizing historical use of tannic acid-containing plants as gastrointestinal therapeutics. KCNE dependence of KCNQ channel modulation by plant metabolites therefore provides a molecular mechanistic basis for Native American use of specific plants as both analgesics and gastrointestinal aids.

Autism-associated mutations in KV7 channels induce gating pore current

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) adversely impacts >1% of children in the United States, causing social interaction deficits, repetitive behaviors, and communication disorders. Genetic analysis of ASD has advanced dramatically through genome sequencing, which has identified >500 genes with mutations in ASD. Mutations that alter arginine gating charges in the voltage sensor of the voltage-gated potassium (KV) channel KV7 (KCNQ) are among those frequently associated with ASD. We hypothesized that these gating charge mutations would induce gating pore current (also termed ω-current) by causing an ionic leak through the mutant voltage sensor. Unexpectedly, we found that wild-type KV7 conducts outward gating pore current through its native voltage sensor at positive membrane potentials, owing to a glutamine in the third gating charge position. In bacterial and human KV7 channels, gating charge mutations at the R1 and R2 positions cause inward gating pore current through the resting voltage sensor at negative membrane potentials, whereas mutation at R4 causes outward gating pore current through the activated voltage sensor at positive potentials. Remarkably, expression of the KV7.3/R2C ASD-associated mutation in vivo in midbrain dopamine neurons of mice disrupts action potential generation and repetitive firing. Overall, our results reveal native and mutant gating pore current in KV7 channels and implicate altered control of action potential generation by gating pore current through mutant KV7 channels as a potential pathogenic mechanism in autism.

Flipping the switch: reverse-demand voltage-sensitive fluorophores

Fluorescence microscopy with fluorescent reporters that respond to environmental cues are a powerful method for interrogating biochemistry and biophysics in living systems. Photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) is commonly used as a trigger to modulate fluorescence in response to changes in the biological environment. PeT based indicators rely either on PeT into the excited state (acceptor PeT) or out of the excited state (donor PeT). Our group has been developing voltage-sensitive fluorophores (VF dyes) that respond to changes in biological membrane potential. We hypothesize that the mechanism of voltage sensitivity arises from acceptor PeT (a-PeT) from an electron-rich aniline-containing molecular wire into the excited state fluorophore, resulting in decreased fluorescence at negative membrane potentials. Here, we can reverse the direction of electron flow to access donor-excited PeT (d-PeT) VF dyes by introducing electron-withdrawing (EWG), rather than electron-rich molecular wires. Similar to first-generation aniline containing VF dyes, EWG-containing VF dyes show voltage-sensitive fluorescence, but with the opposite polarity: hyperpolarizing membrane potentials now give fluorescence increases. We use a combination of computation and experiment to estimate a ΔE of ~0.6 eV for voltage sensitivity in d-PeT indicators, show that two of the new reverse VF dyes are voltage sensitive, and provide the first example, to our knowledge, of a molecular sensor that can be tuned across energy regimes to access bi-directional electron flow for fluorescence sensing in living systems.

Origin of electroneutrality in living system

Identifying the first chemical transformations, from which life emerged is a central problem in the theories of life’s origins. These reactions would likely have been self-sustaining and self-reproductive before the advent of complex biochemical pathways found in modern organisms to synthesize lipid membranes, enzymes, or nucleic acids. Without lipid membranes and enzymes, exceedingly low concentrations of the organic intermediates of early metabolic cycles in protocells would have significantly hindered evolvability. To address this problem, we propose a mechanism, where a positive membrane potential elevates the concentration of the organic intermediates. In this mechanism, positively charged surfaces of protocell membranes due to accumulation of transition metals generate positive membrane potentials. We compute steady-state ion distributions and determine their stability in a protocell model to identify the key factors constraining achievable membrane potentials. We find that (i) violation of electroneutrality is necessary to induce nonzero membrane potentials; (ii) strategies that generate larger membrane potentials can destabilize ion distributions; and (iii) violation of electroneutrality enhances osmotic pressure and diminishes reaction efficiency, thereby driving the evolution of lipid membranes, specialized ion channels, and active transport systems.SignificanceThe building blocks of life are constantly synthesized and broken down through concurrent cycles of chemical transformations. Tracing these reactions back 4 billion years to their origins has been a long-standing goal of evolutionary biology. The first metabolic cycles at the origin of life must have overcome several obstacles to spontaneously start and sustain their nonequilibrium states. Notably, maintaining the concentration of organic intermediates at high levels needed to support their continued operation and subsequent evolution would have been particularly challenging in primitive cells lacking evolutionarily tuned lipid membranes and enzymes. Here, we propose a mechanism, in which the concentration of organic intermediates could have been elevated to drive early metabolic cycles forward in primitive cells with ion-permeable porous membranes under prebiotic conditions and demonstrate its feasibility in a protocell model from first principles.

Characterization of the A-Type potassium current in murine gastric fundus smooth muscles

Transient outward, or "A-type" currents are rapidly inactivating voltage gated potassium currents that operate at negative membrane potentials. A-type currents have not been reported in the gastric fundus, a tonic smooth muscle. We used whole-cell voltage-clamp to identify and characterize A-type currents in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) isolated from murine fundus. A-type currents were robust in these cells with peak amplitudes averaging 1.5nA at 0 mV. Inactivation was rapid with a time constant of 71ms at 0 mV; recovery from inactivation at -80 mV was similarly rapid with a time constant of 75ms. A-type currents in fundus were blocked by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), flecainide and phrixotoxon-1 (PaTX1). Remaining currents after 4-AP and PaTX1 displayed half-activation potentials that were shifted to more positive potentials and showed incomplete inactivation. Currents after TEA displayed half inactivation at -48.1±1.0 mV. Conventional microelectrode and contractile experiments on intact fundus muscles showed that 4-AP depolarized membrane potential and increased tone under conditions in which enteric neurotransmission was blocked. These data suggest that A-type K+ channels in fundus SMCs are likely active at physiological membrane potentials, and sustained activation of A-type channels contributes to the negative membrane potentials of this tonic smooth muscle. Quantitative analysis of Kv4 expression showed that Kcnd3 was dominantly expressed in fundus SMCs. These data were confirmed by immunohistochemistry which revealed Kv4.3-like immunoreactivity within the tunica muscularis. These observations indicate that Kv4 channels likely form the A-type current in murine fundus SMCs.

Ion dynamics at the energy-deprived tripartite synapse

The anatomical and functional organization of neurons and astrocytes at ‘tripartite synapses’ is essential for reliable neurotransmission, which critically depends on ATP. In low energy conditions, synaptic transmission fails, accompanied by a breakdown of ion gradients, changes in membrane potentials and cell swelling. The resulting cellular damage and cell death are causal to the often devastating consequences of an ischemic stroke. The severity of ischemic damage depends on the age and the brain region in which a stroke occurs, but the reasons for this differential vulnerability are far from understood. In the present study, we address this question by developing a comprehensive biophysical model of a glutamatergic synapse to identify key determinants of synaptic failure during energy deprivation. Our model is based on fundamental biophysical principles, includes dynamics of the most relevant ions, i.e., Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl− and glutamate, and is calibrated with experimental data. It confirms the critical role of the Na+/K+-ATPase in maintaining ion gradients, membrane potentials and cell volumes. Our simulations demonstrate that the system exhibits two stable states, one physiological and one pathological. During energy deprivation, the physiological state may disappear, forcing a transit to the pathological state, which can be reverted when blocking voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels. Our model predicts that the transition to the pathological state is favoured if the extracellular space fraction is small. A reduction in the extracellular space volume fraction, as, e.g. observed with ageing, will thus promote the brain’s susceptibility to ischemic damage. Our work provides new insights into the brain’s ability to recover from energy deprivation, with translational relevance for diagnosis and treatment of ischemic strokes.

Event-Based Update of Synapses in Voltage-Based Learning Rules

Due to the point-like nature of neuronal spiking, efficient neural network simulators often employ event-based simulation schemes for synapses. Yet many types of synaptic plasticity rely on the membrane potential of the postsynaptic cell as a third factor in addition to pre- and postsynaptic spike times. In some learning rules membrane potentials not only influence synaptic weight changes at the time points of spike events but in a continuous manner. In these cases, synapses therefore require information on the full time course of membrane potentials to update their strength which a priori suggests a continuous update in a time-driven manner. The latter hinders scaling of simulations to realistic cortical network sizes and relevant time scales for learning. Here, we derive two efficient algorithms for archiving postsynaptic membrane potentials, both compatible with modern simulation engines based on event-based synapse updates. We theoretically contrast the two algorithms with a time-driven synapse update scheme to analyze advantages in terms of memory and computations. We further present a reference implementation in the spiking neural network simulator NEST for two prototypical voltage-based plasticity rules: the Clopath rule and the Urbanczik-Senn rule. For both rules, the two event-based algorithms significantly outperform the time-driven scheme. Depending on the amount of data to be stored for plasticity, which heavily differs between the rules, a strong performance increase can be achieved by compressing or sampling of information on membrane potentials. Our results on computational efficiency related to archiving of information provide guidelines for the design of learning rules in order to make them practically usable in large-scale networks.