title: Nicotine-induced Ca2+ signaling and down-regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit expression in the CEM human leukemic T-cell line.
abstract: We previously showed that T- and B-lymphocytes express both muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (mAChR and nAChR, respectively), and that stimulation of M(3) mAChRs on lymphocytes increases the intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) and up-regulates c-fos gene expression. Little is known about the effects of nicotinic stimulation on lymphocyte function, however. We therefore investigated the acute effect of nicotine on [Ca(2+)](i) in CEM cells, a model of T-lymphocytes, using confocal laser scanning microscopy with fluo-3, a Ca(2+)-sensitive fluorescent indicator. In addition, we examined the long-term effect of nicotine on the expression of selected nAChR subunits using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. In the presence of extracellular Ca(2+), nicotine (30 microM) evoked rapid, transient increases in [Ca(2+)](i). This effect was concentration-dependently inhibited by the alpha7 nAChR subunit antagonists, alpha-bungarotoxin (0.01-10 microM) and methyllycaconitine (0.01-10 mM), suggesting that the alpha7 nAChR subunit mediates Ca(2+) signaling in T-lymphocytes. Nicotine (0.01-10 microM) also concentration-dependently down-regulated expression of mRNAs for all the nAChR subunits tested: expression of the alpha6 and alpha7 subunits was down-regulated within 1 week, while expression of the alpha3 and alpha5 subunits declined gradually throughout the 8-week experimental period. These findings indicate that nicotine--and therefore likely smoking--affects immune function by suppressing expression of the neuronal nAChR subtype involved in Ca(2+) signaling in lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy, 1-5-30 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8512, Japan.
authors.forename: Reika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ushiyama
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000187:drug effects*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014966:Xanthenes
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D014966:Xanthenes; C059715:Fluo-3; D009538:Nicotine