title: Role of Ca2+ channels in the ability of membrane depolarization to prevent neuronal death induced by trophic-factor deprivation: evidence that levels of internal Ca2+ determine nerve growth factor dependence of sympathetic ganglion cells.
abstract: Sympathetic neurons depend on nerve growth factor (NGF) for their survival both in vivo and in vitro; these cells die upon acute deprivation of NGF. We studied the effects of agents that cause membrane depolarization on neuronal survival after NGF deprivation. High-K+ medium (greater than or equal to 33 mM) prevented cell death; the effect of K+ was dose-dependent (EC50 = 21 mM). The protection by high K+ was abolished either by withdrawal of extracellular Ca2+ or by preloading the cells with a Ca2+ chelator. The involvement of Ca2+ flux across membranes in high-K+ saving of NGF-deprived neurons was also supported by experiments using Ca2+-channel antagonists and agonists. The Ca2+ antagonists nimodipine and nifedipine effectively blocked the survival-promoting effect of high K+. The Ca2+ agonists Bay K 8644 and (S)-202-791 did not by themselves save neurons from NGF deprivation but did strongly augment the effect of high K+; EC50 was shifted from 21 mM to 13 mM. These data suggest that dihydropyridine-sensitive L-type Ca2+ channels play a major role in the high-K+ saving. The depolarizing agents choline (EC50 = 1 mM) and carbamoylcholine (EC50 = 1 microM), acting through nicotinic cholinergic receptors, also rescued NGF-deprived neurons. The saving effect of nicotinic agonists was not blocked by withdrawal of extracellular Ca2+ but was counteracted by a chelator of intracellular Ca2+, suggesting the possible involvement of Ca2+ release from internal stores. Based on these findings we propose a "Ca2+ set-point hypothesis" for the degree of trophic-factor dependence of sympathetic neurons in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D007106:Immune Sera; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D015220:Calcium Channels; D007106:Immune Sera; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D002118:Calcium