Abstract
High concentrations of ATP induce membrane blebbing. However, the underlying mechanism involved in epithelial cells remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of the P2×7 receptor (P2×7R) in membrane blebbing using Par C5 cells. We stimulated the cells with 5 mM of ATP for 1 ~ 2 hrs and found the characteristics of membrane blebbing, a hallmark of apoptotic cell death. In addition, 500 μM Bz-ATP, a specific P2×7R agonist, induced membrane blebbing. However, 300 μM of Ox-ATP, a P2×7R antagonist, inhibited ATP-induced membrane blebbing, suggesting that ATP-induced membrane blebbing is mediated by P2×7R. We found that ATP-induced membrane blebbing was mediated by ROCK I activation and MLC phosphorylation, but not by caspase-3. Five mM of ATP evoked a biphasic [Ca2+]i response; a transient [Ca2+]i peak and sustained [Ca2+]i increase secondary to ATP-stimulated Ca2+ influx. These results suggest that P2×7R plays a role in membrane blebbing of the salivary gland epithelial cells.
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![]() | Fig. 1.Membrane blebbing induced by ATP. (A) Par C5 cells were treated with 5 mM ATP, 5 mM ATP with 300 μM ox-ATP for 2 hrs, and 5 mM ATP in Ca2+-free solution. The cells were stained with Texas Red-X phalloidin. In addition, 5 mM of ATP for 2 hrs induced several membrane blebs per cell (arrows in the second panel). Membrane blebbing was reduced following pretreatment with 300 μM ox-ATP or 5 mM ATP in a Ca2+-free bath solution (the third and fourth panels). (B) The histogram summarizes the results of the percent of cells demonstrating membrane blebbing following treatment with 1 mM Bz-ATP, 5 mM ATP, 1 mM ADP, or 1 mM UTP. Membrane blebbing was also quantified following ATP or Bz-ATP stimulation following 2 hrs of incubation with 300 μM ox-ATP or in a Ca2+-free solution. The data are the means of five separate experiments. ∗p<0.05 is derived from comparisons with untreated control cells. |
![]() | Fig. 2.ATP induced ROCK I activation and MLC phosphorylation in Par C5 cells. (A) ROCK I cleavage and phosphorylated-MLC (pMLC) from whole cell lysates (50 μg) were resolved by SDS-PAGE and blotted with specific antibodies. The blots were probed with antibodies against ROCK I, pMLC, and MLC (Control). The cells were treated with ATP for up to 2 hrs. (B) ATP-induced ROCK I cleavage and pMLC after pretreatment with 300 μM ox-ATP or in Ca2+-free solution. (C) ATP-induced ROCK I cleavage and pMLC after pretreatment with 300 μM caspase-3 inhibitor (DEVD-fmk) or 10 μM ROCK I inhibitor (Y-27632). (D) The effects of Y-27632 and DEVD-fmk on the percent of cells demonstrating membrane blebbing following 5 mM ATP stimulation. The number of cells containing membrane blebs was determined from a total of 500 cells. The data are means from five separate experiments ∗p<0.05 compared to untreated control cells. |
![]() | Fig. 3.Measurement of cytoplasm free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) mediated by P2×7R activation in fura-2 loaded Par C5 cells. (A) In the presence of 1 mM Mg2+, 5 mM ATP induced a transient and sustained elevation in [Ca2+]i. In addition, 20 mM Mg2+ completely blocked the sustained increased in [Ca2+]. (B) In a Ca2+-free bath solution, the transient peak increase in [Ca2+]i was measured following stimulation with ATP (5 mM) or UTP (1 mM). The sustained increase was absent in the Ca2+-free media. (C) Two hours following preincubation with 300 μM ox-ATP, a peak increase in [Ca2+]i stimulated by 5 mM of ATP was present without evidence of a sustained increase. Each tracing is a typical representative sample of at least 10 separate experiments using different cell preparations. |