Calcium-dependent effect of the thymic polypeptide thymopoietin on the desensitization of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
The effects of the thymic polypeptide thymopoietin (Tpo) on the properties of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AcChoR) were investigated by patch clamp techniques on mouse C/sub 2/ myotubes and by biochemical assays on AcChoR-rich membrane fragments purified from the Torpedo marmorata electric organ. At high concentrations (> 100 nM), Tpo inhibits the binding of cholinergic agonists to the AcChoR in a Ca/sup 2 +/-insensitive manner. At lower concentrations (2 nM), Tpo applied on C/sub 2/ myotubes simultaneously with nondesensitizing concentrations of acetylcholine results in the appearance of long closed times separating groups of openings. This effect depends on the presence of Ca/sup 2 +/ in the external medium. Outside-out recordings, performed with various concentrations of EGTA in the intracellular medium, suggest that Ca/sup 2 +/ acts on the cytoplasmic face of the membrane after entry through acetylcholine-activated channels. Parallel studies with T. marmorata AcChoR-rich membranes show that in the presence of Ca/sup 2 +/ Tpo causes a decrease in the apparent equilibrium dissociation constant of the noncompetitive blocker (/sup 3/H)phencyclidine, enhances, at low concentrations, the binding of (/sup 3/H)acetylcholine, and also alters the binding kinetics of the fluorescent agonist 6-(5-dimethylamino-1-naphthalenesulfonamido)-n-hexanoic acid ..beta..-(N-trimethylammonium bromide) ethyl ester to the AcChoR. It was concluded that, in the presence of Ca/sup 2 +/, Tpo displaces the conformational equilibrium of the AcChoR towards a high-affinity desensitized state and increases the transition rate towards the same state.
- Research Organization:
- Interactions Moleculaires et Cellulaires, Paris, France
- OSTI ID:
- 5402608
- Journal Information:
- Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.; (United States), Vol. 84:10
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
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NEUROREGULATORS
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550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques