title: Pharmacological characterization of adrenal paraneurons: substance P and somatostatin as inhibitory modulators of the nicotinic response.
abstract: A pharmacological study was made of the effects of various muscarinic and nicotinic agonists and their antagonists on the release of [3H]noradrenaline ([3H]NA) from cultures of isolated bovine adrenal medullary cells. A study was also made of the effects of substance P and somatostatin on the release of [3H]NA evoked by nicotinic agonists. By 2 days in culture these adrenal 'paraneurons' had developed long varicose processes with growth cones and generally resembled noradrenergic neurons in culture. In the present study, adrenal paraneurons were incubated with [3H]NA which was taken up and stored in reserpine-sensitive sites. Exposure of the cultures to acetylcholine (ACh) resulted in release of [3H]NA into the external medium. High concentrations of K+ (56 mM) also evoked release of [3H]NA. The release of [3H]NA induced by ACh or K+ (56 mM) was Ca2+-dependent. Pharmacological studies with nicotinic (ACh, nicotine) and muscarinic (methacholine, pilocarpine) agonists and their antagonists (mecamylasmine, d-tubocurarine, hexamethonium; and atropine, scopolamine, respectively) showed that the adrenal paraneurons contained only nicotinic receptors. Substance P produced a dose-dependent inhibition of ACh (5 x 10(-5) M) stimulated [3H]NA release in the range of 10(-8) to 5 x 10(-5) M with an ID50 of 10(-6) M. A similar inhibition of NA release by substance P was obtained when nicotine (K X 10(-6) M) was used as the agonist, but not when K+ (50 MM) was used to depolarize the cells. Substance P (10-10) to 5 x 10(-5) M) by itself did not have a significant effect on the basal release rate of [3H]NA from these cells. Somatostatin at relatively high concentrations (10(-6)-10(-3) M; ID50 2 x 10(-5) M) inhibited the release induced by ACh, but not by K+ (56 mM). The present results provide the first direct evidence at a cellular level that substance P and somatostatin act as inhibitory modulators of the nicotinic ACh response, and support a role for these peptides as inhibitory neuromodulators at nicotinic receptor sites in the nervous system.
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000187:drug effects / Q000294:innervation*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008688:Methacholine Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects*; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000187:drug effects; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000187:drug effects*; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013373:Substance P / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D008688:Methacholine Compounds; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D010862:Pilocarpine; D013373:Substance P; D013004:Somatostatin; D009538:Nicotine; D000109:Acetylcholine; D011188:Potassium; D009638:Norepinephrine