title: Regulation of intracellular calcium and preprotachykinin neurotransmitter precursor gene expression by patterned electrical stimulation in rat sympathetic neurons.
abstract: Experiments were performed to test several predictions of the hypothesis that activity pattern-dependent changes in intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) might play a role in the translation of altered patterns of neuronal activity into changes in neurotransmitter gene expression. It was shown that (1) the Ca2+ channel blocker cadmium prevented depolarization-induced preprotachykinin-I (PPT-I) gene repression in rat sympathetic neurons; (2) the magnitudes of transient rises in [Ca2+]i were dependent upon the pattern in which a fixed number of depolarizing stimuli were delivered; and (3) stimulation at 10 Hz for 24 h did not repress PPT-I mRNA, while the same number of pulses delivered in 0.2 s bursts of 50 Hz caused a highly significant reduction to 30 +/- 2.5% of control levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hodaie
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jeevaratnam
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Salter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D015320:Tachykinins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011498:Protein Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015320:Tachykinins; C044206:preprotachykinin; D002104:Cadmium; D002118:Calcium