title: Potentiation by high potassium of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production from cultured astrocytes.
abstract: Uptake of K+ is an important role of astrocytes to maintain physiological lower extracellular K+ concentration in the CNS. In this study, the effect of high K+ concentration was examined on the cellular function of astrocytes from embryonic rat brain in primary culture. Nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured as an index of cellular function of astrocytes. Increasing KCl concentration to about 40 mM did not directly evoke NO production, but doubled the level of LPS (1 ng/ml)-induced NO production. K-gluconate showed a similar enhancing effect although the degree of enhancement was about half of that of KCl. Neither NaCl nor Na-gluconate showed any effect. The K(+)-channel blocker, 4-aminopyridine, but not tetraethylammonium or apamin, inhibited the enhancing effect of KCl. The LPS-induced iNOS protein expression determined by immunoblotting analysis was enhanced by high K+ treatment. The level of iNOS mRNA determined by real-time RT-PCR technique was also augmented by the presence of 40 mM KCl. These results indicate that the elevation of extracellular K+ concentration regulates astrocytic cell functions through a mechanism involving K(A)-type K(+)-channels and that potentiation of NO production by high K+ is due to the augmentation of iNOS mRNA and iNOS protein levels.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrative Physiology in Veterinary Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan. yoichi@vet.osakafu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: Hideshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kozaki
authors.forename: Mitsuaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moriyama
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kannan
mesh_terms: D015761:4-Aminopyridine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017931:DNA Primers; D004357:Drug Synergism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D026902:Potassium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D026902:Potassium Channel Blockers; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D015761:4-Aminopyridine; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D011188:Potassium