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Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 280: H1528-H1536, 2001;
0363-6135/01 $5.00
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Vol. 280, Issue 4, H1528-H1536, April 2001

Angiotensin II stimulates cardiac L-type Ca2+ current by a Ca2+- and protein kinase C-dependent mechanism

E. A. Aiello and H. E. Cingolani

Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata 1900, Argentina


    ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Angiotensin II (ANG II) evokes positive inotropic responses in various species. However, the effects of this peptide on L-type Ca2+ currents (ICa) are still controversial. We report in this study that the effects of ANG II on ICa differ depending on the mode of patch-clamp technique used, standard whole cell (WC) or perforated patch (PP). No significant effects of ANG II (0.5 µM) were observed when WC in cells dialyzed with high EGTA was used. However, when the intracellular milieu was preserved using PP, ANG II induced a significant 77 ± 6% increase in ICa (-2.2 ± 0.3 in control and -3.9 ± 0.6 pA/pF in ANG II, n = 8, P < 0.05). When WC was used in cells dialyzed with low Ca2+ buffer capacity (EGTA 0.1 mM), ANG II was able to induce an increase in ICa (-3.5 ± 0.3 in control vs. -4.8 ± 0.4 pA/pF in ANG II, n = 13, P < 0.05). This increase was prevented when the cells were also dialyzed with the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor chelerythrine (50 µM) or calphostin C (1 µM). The above results allow us to conclude that strong intracellular Ca2+ buffering prevents the physiological actions of ANG II on cardiac ICa, which are also dependent on activation of PKC.

cardiac myocytes; perforated patch


    INTRODUCTION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

ANGIOTENSIN II (ANG II) evokes positive inotropic responses in various species. However, the effects of this peptide on the cardiac L-type Ca2+ current (ICa) are still controversial. Early studies using multicellular preparations described an increase in ICa after ANG II treatment (7, 17). However, more recent observations using isolated myocytes reported contradictory results: increase (3, 4, 15), no effect (1, 12), and even decrease (8) in ICa induced by ANG II were reported. Kaibara et al. (15) reported that in rabbit ventricular myocytes, ANG II induced an increase in ICa only after stimulation of Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) and subsequent intracellular alkalization. On the other hand, Ikenouchi and co-workers (12), using the same cell type and species, detected a significant 0.2-pH unit increase in intracellular pH (pHi) after ANG II application without changes in ICa or intracellular Ca2+ transients.

ANG II type-1 receptors (AT1), together with alpha 1-adrenoceptors and endothelin (ET)-1 receptors, belong to a family of G protein (Gq)-coupled receptors linked to phospholipase C (PLC) activation and consequent production of inositol trisphosphate and diacylglicerol, which, in turn, activates Ca2+-dependent (classic) and Ca2+-independent (novel) isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC). For the cellular responses that involve these pathways, the preservation of the intracellular milieu (as intact as possible) might be required for observation of the physiological effects of these hormones on ICa.

Similar to the phenomenon recently described for alpha 1-agonists (23, 40) and ET (18), we report in this study that the effects of ANG II on ICa may differ depending on the mode of patch-clamp technique used, standard whole cell (WC) or perforated patch (PP). Altering the Ca2+ buffer capacity of the pipette solution in the WC recordings allowed us to conclude that differential control of intracellular Ca2+ (Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP>) accounts for the differences observed between the two voltage-clamp methods. The ANG II positive response is indeed observed under WC voltage-clamp conditions when Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> is not strongly buffered. Overall, the main conclusion of this work is that the increase in ICa by ANG II is highly dependent on Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP>. In addition, we present novel evidence that indicates that in cardiac myocytes, the increase in ICa induced by ANG II is a pHi-independent and a PKC-dependent mechanism.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Myocyte isolation. Cat myocytes were isolated according to the technique previously described (2, 26) with some modifications. Briefly, the hearts were attached via the aorta to a cannula, excised, and mounted in a Langendorff apparatus. They were then retrograde perfused at 37°C at a constant perfusion pressure of 70-80 mmHg with Krebs-Henseleit solution (K-H) of the following composition (in mM): 146.2 NaCl, 4.7 KCl, 1.35 CaCl2, 10 HEPES, 0.35 NaH2PO4, 1 MgSO4, and 10 glucose (pH adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH). The solution was continuously bubbled with 100% O2. After a stabilization period of 4 min, the perfusion was switched to a nominally Ca2+-free K-H for 6 min. Hearts were then recirculated with collagenase (118 units/ml), 0.1 mg/ml pronase, and 1% BSA in K-H containing 50 µM CaCl2. Perfusion continued until hearts became flaccid (15-25 min). Hearts were then removed from the perfusion apparatus by cutting at the atrioventricular junction. The desegregated myocytes were separated from the undigested tissue and rinsed several times with a K-H solution containing 1% BSA and 500 µM CaCl2. After each wash, myocytes were left for sedimentation for 10 min. Myocytes were kept in K-H solution at room temperature (20-22°C) until use. Only rod-shaped myocytes with clear and distinct striations and an obvious marked shortening and relaxation on stimulation were used. Experiments were performed at room temperature.

ICa recordings. Isolated cat ventricular myocytes were placed in a perfusion chamber and superfused with bath solution at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/min. The PP and standard WC configurations of the patch-clamp technique (2, 9, 19) were used for voltage-clamp recordings with a patch-clamp amplifier (Axopatch 200A; Axon Instruments, Foster City, CA). Patch pipettes were pulled with a PP-83 puller (Narishige; Tokyo, Japan) and fire polished with an MF-83 Microforge (Narishige) to a final resistance of 1-3 MOmega when filled with pipette solution. The tip of the pipette was positioned above the cell, and its potential and capacitance were nullified. WC currents (filtered at 1 kHz) were digitally recorded directly to hard disk via an analog-to-digital converter (Digidata 1200, Axon Instruments) interfaced with an IBM clone computer running pCLAMP and Axotape software (Axon Instruments). Data analysis was performed with pClamp (Clampfit).

Voltage-clamp depolarizing pulses (250 ms) were delivered at 0.2 Hz. A holding potential of -80 mV was used in all protocols to prevent slow inactivation and to minimize current rundown (25). No L-type ICa rundown was observed in the PP recordings, whereas only 10-15% of peak current diminution was present after 30-40 min of cell dialysis in the WC recordings [16 ± 6 and 12 ± 5% in cells dialyzed with 0.1 mM (n = 5) and 5 mM (n = 4) EGTA, respectively]. A 500-ms prepulse to -40 mV, used to inactivate Na+ channels and potential T-type Ca2+ channels, preceded the depolarizing test pulses to different potentials. Under the present recording conditions, no WC currents were detected in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]o) (not shown). In six cells superfused with Na+-free external solution, the amplitude of the control peak density current registered at 0 mV (-2.48 ± 0.73 pA/pF; PP recordings) was similar to the one recorded in the presence of Na+ (see Figs. 2 and 3). The currents evoked by the test pulses after the 500-ms prepulses of -40 mV exhibited activation and inactivation kinetics consistent with those of L-type ICa. In addition, acute application of either 0.5 or 1 µM nifedipine to the bath solution reduced the WC current evoked at 0 mV by 42.5 ± 7.4% (n = 4) and 87.4 ± 7.8% (n = 4), respectively. Accordingly, these observations strongly suggest that the currents measured have a minimal or no contamination with currents other than L-type ICa.

Nystatin produced good intracellular access after 15-20 min of seal formation. The ICa amplitude was measured as peak inward current with reference to the current measured at the end of the test pulse. For each cell, capacitative current was recorded to determine the membrane capacitance, and the currents were normalized for cell capacitance. The average cell capacitance was 132.5 ± 5.7 pF (n = 19).

The superfusion medium used to measure ICa had the following composition (in mM): 5 CsCl, 133 NaCl, 1 MgCl2, 1.2 MgSO4, 10 HEPES, 10 tethraethylammonium chloride (TEA), 1.35 CaCl2, and 10 glucose; pH was adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH. The internal (pipette) solution used for the PP recordings contained (in mM): 140 CsCl, 1 MgCl2, 10 NaCl, 1 EGTA, 10 HEPES, and 0.4 mg/ml nystatin; pH was adjusted to 7.2 with NaOH. The pipette solution used for the standard WC recordings contained (in mM): 140 CsCl, 1 MgCl2, 5 Na2ATP, 5 EGTA (Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> < 20 nM; Ref. 38), and 10 HEPES; pH was adjusted to 7.2 with NaOH. In some experiments, the EGTA was lowered to 0.1 mM (Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> ~100 nM; Ref. 38) or replaced with 10 mM 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA) (Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP><20 nM; Ref. 38). The accurate estimation of the free Ca2+ concentration of the pipette solutions employed in the present study is difficult, because Ca2+ chelators in the absence of added Ca2+ were used. In the present work, no contractions were observed when 5 mM EGTA or 10 mM BAPTA was employed, whereas all the cells dialyzed with 0.1 mM EGTA exhibited excitation-contraction coupling.

A concentration of 0.5 µM ANG II was used in most of the experiments of the present study. Previous studies performed in our laboratory showed that this concentration of the peptide produced a nearly maximal increase in contractility in cat papillary muscles (24), a finding in agreement with previous studies performed in other species (13).

Materials. Collagenase type B was purchased from Worthington Biochemical (Lakewood, NJ); pronase was from Boerhinger Mannheim (Mannheim, Germany); BSA was essentially fatty acid free; ANG II, calphostin C, and chelerythrine were from Sigma (St. Louis, MO); and HOE-642 was a gift from Hoechst (Frankfurt, Germany). All other chemicals were of the purest reagent grade available.

Statistics. All data are presented as means ± SE. Comparisons within groups were assessed by a paired Student's t-test. ANOVA was used when required, as indicated. A value of P < 0.05 was taken to indicate statistical significance.


    RESULTS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Figure 1A shows lack of effect of ANG II in representative traces of WC L-type ICa evoked by pulses to 0 mV (250 ms) delivered at 0.2 Hz from a holding potential of -80 mV and followed by a 500-ms prepulse to -40 mV. Out of a total of 24 cells, ANG II (0.5 µM) produced no effect in ICa in 12 cells, a slight increase in 4 cells, and a decrease in 8 cells. On average, no statistically significant effects of ANG II were observed when WC was used in these experiments (Fig. 1B).


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Fig. 1.   ANG II effects on Ca2+ currents (ICa) registered under whole cell (WC) configuration. A: representative traces of ICa compensated for cell capacitance, recorded in a myocyte before and after application of ANG II to the bath solution. The WC currents were evoked by a voltage-clamp depolarizing step to 0 mV (250 ms) from a prepulse potential of -40 mV. Dashed lines represent 0 current level. B: average data of peak ICa density of 24 cells recorded at 0 mV before (open bar) and after ANG II (solid bar). No statistically significant effects of ANG II on ICa were detected.

In contrast to the results obtained using WC, when the intracellular milieu was preserved using PP (Figs. 2 and 3), ANG II (0.5 µM) induced a significant and consistent 73 ± 5% (n = 13) increase in ICa. A similar increase in ICa was induced by 100 nM ANG II (n = 3, data not shown). Analysis of the amplitude of the end-pulse current showed no significant differences between control (7 ± 10 pA) and ANG II [3 ± 9 pA, n = 13, not significant (NS)]. Figure 2A shows the time course of the effect of ANG II on the peak ICa evoked at 0 mV. The representative traces corresponding to the points indicated in Fig. 2A are shown at bottom. Application of ANG II to the bath induced an increase in ICa that started after 2 min, reached a maximum value after 8-10 min, and slightly decreased to a steady-state value after 12-15 min. Figure 2B shows average data of this time course collected from five myocytes.


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Fig. 2.   Effects of ANG II on ICa recorded under perforated patch (PP) configuration. A: time course of the effects of ANG II on peak ICa density evoked by a step to 0 mV in a single myocyte. Representative traces of ICa corresponding to the points indicated at top are shown at bottom. B: ANG II time course effects on average data of peak ICa density of 5 cells recorded at 0 mV. A significant increase in ICa was observed after application of ANG II to the bath solution.



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Fig. 3.   Inhibition by losartan (Los) of the ANG II effects on ICa. A: time course of the effects of ANG II and ANG II + Los on peak ICa density evoked by a step to 0 mV in a single myocyte. Representative traces of ICa corresponding to the points indicated at top are shown at bottom. B: current density-voltage relations for average data of peak current density collected from 8 myocytes in control, in the presence of ANG II, and with Los in the continuous presence of ANG II. * ANG II statistically different from control. ** ANG II statistically different from Los + ANG II. Repeated measures ANOVA for paired values followed by Bonferroni post hoc test was employed. The significant increase in ICa observed after application of ANG II was reversed by addition of Los to the bath solution.

The effects of the AT1 receptor antagonist losartan (Los; 2 µM) in the presence of ANG II are shown in Fig. 3. The time course of the effects of ANG II and Los on ICa is shown in Fig. 3A. During the maximum ICa enhancement induced by ANG II, the addition of Los to the bath solution in the continuous presence of the peptide induced a slow decrease in ICa that reached a steady-state value (20% above control) after 10 min of exposure of the myocyte to the AT1 receptor antagonist. Pretreatment of the myocytes with Los (2 µM) prevented the increase in ICa induced by ANG II (n = 3, data not shown). In contrast, pretreatment of the cells with the AT2 receptor antagonist PD-123,319 (2 µM) did not modify the response to ANG II (n = 3, data not shown). Figure 3B depicts the average current density-voltage relations at control, after 7-8 min of ANG II treatment, and after 10 min of the addition of Los in the continuous presence of ANG II. A significant increase in current density was observed in the range of voltage between -20 and +40 mV after application of ANG II to the bath solution, which was almost completely reversed by the addition of Los.

As can be observed in Fig. 3B, the control average peak current density recorded at 0 mV was smaller than the one recorded under WC. A more important contribution of the Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP>-dependent inhibition of ICa should be likely present in the PP recordings compared with the WC ones, in which Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> is being chelated by EGTA. Because the different control values obtained in the PP and WC recordings could raise some questions as to the effect of ANG II, we performed additional PP experiments in which [Ca2+]o was increased from 1.35 to 2.35 mM to obtain higher control values in this PP configuration. Under these conditions, 0.5 µM ANG II still induced a significant and important increase (~60%) in the peak current density recorded at 0 mV (-3.7 ± 0.6 pA/pF in control vs. -5.9 ± 0.9 pA/pF after ANG II; n = 5, P < 0.05).

Figure 3B also demonstrates that ANG II produces a Los-sensitive clear change in the shape of the current-voltage relation of ICa, consistent with a negative shift (-10 mV) in the voltage at which ICa is maximal (VI peak). To investigate the reason for this negative shift, the kinetics and voltage dependence of activation and inactivation were studied.

The time course of activation of ICa was examined by calculating the time to peak current evoked at 0 mV. A significant acceleration in the time to peak current was observed after ANG II treatment (16.6 ± 1.9 ms in control vs. 13.2 ± 1.6 ms after ANG II; n = 13, P < 0.05). The time course of inactivation of ICa was also examined. From peak current to end-pulse current, traces were fitted by a double exponential function of the form
I=A<SUB>0</SUB>+A<SUB>1</SUB> exp(−<IT>t/&tgr;<SUB>1</SUB>+A<SUB>2</SUB> </IT>exp(−<IT>t/&tgr;<SUB>2</SUB></IT>)
where I is the current at time t, A1 and A2 are the amplitudes of the current at time 0 of the individual components, and tau 1 and tau 2 are their respective time constants. A0 is a constant that represents the current at time = infinity . Fast (tau 1) and slow (tau 2) inactivation time (t) constants were not different in either the absence or presence of ANG II. At 0 mV, time constants were 17.5 ± 3.4 ms (tau 1) and 78.9 ± 9.3 ms (tau 2) in control and 20.4 ± 3.4 ms (tau 1) and 93.5 ± 13.8 ms (tau 2) after ANG II addition to the extracellular solution (n = 13, NS).

Figure 4 shows the voltage dependence of steady-state activation and inactivation of ICa in the absence and presence of ANG II. ANG II induced a statistically significant negative shift in the activation curve. The voltage at which 50% of activation is present (V0.5) was -8.5 ± 1.2 mV in control and -11.8 ± 1 mV in the presence of ANG II (n = 6, P < 0.05). No differences were observed in the activation slope factors (k) before (3.7 ± 0.4 mV) and after (3.5 ± 0.4 mV) addition of ANG II to the bath solution. A nonstatistically significant slight positive shift in the inactivation curves was observed after ANG II (V0.5 and k values were -13.9 ± 1.5 and 4.1 ± 0.6 mV in control and -13.1 ± 0.6 and 3.4 ± 0.2 mV after ANG II, respectively). The evaluation of the steady-state activation and inactivation parameters suggests that ANG II not only increases ICa but also alters the gating properties of the L-type Ca2+ channels, resulting in a widening of the steady-state window current.


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Fig. 4.   Steady-state activation (circles) and inactivation (squares) curves obtained before and after ANG II application (PP recordings). Each point is mean ± SE of 8 and 6 myocytes, respectively. Activation data were obtained from protocols as in Fig. 3. Inactivation data were obtained with a standard double-pulse protocol. Preconditioning steps of 1.6 s from -55 to +15 mV in 5-mV intervals from a holding potential of -80 mV were applied, followed by a 5-ms step to -80 mV before a constant 250-ms depolarizing step to 0 mV. Extracellular NaCl was completely replaced by choline chloride in these experiments. Peak currents during constant steps to 0 mV were normalized to maximal amplitude and plotted against voltage of 1.6-s conditioning pulses. Lines passing through data points are Boltzmann distribution functions derived by least-squares fitting method. Solid lines and dotted lines are curves obtained before and after ANG II application, respectively. * ANG II significantly different from control.

Kaibara et al. (15) reported that cardiac ICa enhancement induced by ANG II is due to the intracellular alkalization produced by the stimulation of the NHE. Under the present recording conditions, in which no bicarbonate was included in the extracellular solution, the most important modulator of pHi is the NHE. One possible explanation for the lack of effect of ANG II in the WC experiments could be that intracellular dialysis with pipette solution containing the pH buffer HEPES (10 mM) might be preventing the increase in pHi induced by the peptide. However, in PP experiments, pretreatment of the cells with the NHE inhibitor HOE-642 (1 µM) did not prevent the increase in ICa induced by ANG II (at 0 mV, 71 ± 7%; n = 5). Figure 5 shows an example of these experiments. After application of HOE-642, a slight decrease in ICa, likely due to intracellular acidification or direct inhibition of the channels by the drug, was observed. Only two out of five cells exhibited this behavior, and no effect of HOE-642 on basal ICa was observed in the other three myocytes. Under the continuous presence of the NHE inhibitor, ANG II produced a Los-sensitive enhancement of ICa of a similar magnitude to the one observed in the absence of the blocker. Although simultaneous measurements of pHi were not performed in the present PP recordings, this concentration of HOE-642 has been widely accepted as an NHE inhibitor in the heart (6, 29, 31, 37).


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Fig. 5.   Effects of ANG II on ICa in the presence of the Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) blocker HOE-642, recorded under PP configuration. Time course of the effects of HOE-642, ANG II, and ANG II + Los on peak ICa density evoked by a step to 0 mV in a single myocyte. Representative traces of ICa corresponding to the points indicated at top are shown at bottom. Despite the continuous presence of the NHE blocker, ANG II induced a 75% increase in ICa.

Because Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> is a common second messenger for different receptor-operated intracellular pathways, the absence of consistent effect of ANG II when WC was used could be due to the chelation of Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> by the EGTA (5 mM) present in the pipette solution. To test this hypothesis, two sets of experiments using WC were performed.

In experiment 1, measurements of ICa were performed in myocytes dialyzed with the more rapid and efficient Ca2+ chelator BAPTA (10 mM), and the results are shown in Fig. 6. Figure 6A shows representative traces of ICa recorded under these conditions, before and after exposure of the myocyte to ANG II. Average data are shown in Fig. 6B. ANG II failed to induce ICa enhancement in all the cells studied under these conditions. Indeed, two out of six myocytes dialyzed with BAPTA showed a sustained decrease in ICa after ANG II.


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Fig. 6.   ANG II effects on ICa registered under WC configuration in cells dialyzed with 10 mM BAPTA. A: representative traces of ICa compensated for cell capacitance, recorded in a myocyte before and after application of ANG II to the bath solution. B: average data of peak ICa density of 6 cells recorded at 0 mV before (open bar) and after ANG II (solid bar). No statistically significant effects of ANG II on ICa were detected.

In experiment 2, the cells were dialyzed with low Ca2+ buffer capacity (EGTA 0.1 mM). The myocytes were also dialyzed with a higher concentration of HEPES (30 mM) with the objective of efficiently clamping pHi at a constant value. It is important to note that this is the same level of HEPES that prevented the increase in ICa induced by ANG II in the study of Kaibara and co-workers (15). Under these conditions, ANG II was able to induce an increase in ICa, as shown in the representative traces of Fig. 7A. Figure 7B depicts the average current density-voltage relation for ICa before and after addition of ANG II to the bath solution. This peptide induced a significant increase in the current in the voltage range between -25 and +40 mV. ICa recorded at 0 mV was 38 ± 4% higher in the presence of ANG II than in its absence. This value was lower than the one obtained using PP and is in the order of previously reported data in which WC was used (3, 4 15). These results allow us to conclude that the increase in ICa induced by ANG II is a mechanism dependent on Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP>. Further experiments are needed in which the ANG II responses as a function of tightly controlled Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> are monitored to know what minimal Ca2+ is required.


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Fig. 7.   ANG II effects on ICa registered under WC configuration in cells dialyzed with 0.1 mM EGTA and 30 mM HEPES. A: representative traces of ICa compensated for cell capacitance, recorded in a myocyte before and after application of ANG II to the bath solution. The WC currents were evoked by a voltage-clamp depolarizing step to 0 mV (250 ms) from a prepulse potential of -40 mV. Dashed lines represent 0 current level. B: current density-voltage relations for average data of peak current density collected from 13 myocytes, before and after the addition of ANG II. * ANG II statistically different from control. A significant increase in ICa was observed after application of ANG II to the bath solution.

Although in these present experiments, ANG II also produced a change in the shape of the current density-voltage relation, a significant shift in VIpeak was not evident. As was the case for the PP recordings, in these WC recordings, the kinetics of activation measured as the time to peak current was also significantly increased by ANG II (at 0 mV, 11.3 ± 1.8 ms in control vs. 10.1 ± 1.8 ms after ANG II; n = 13, P < 0.05). The inactivation kinetics remained unaltered after ANG II. At 0 mV, inactivation time constants were 12.4 ± 2.2 ms (tau 1) and 71.8 ± 7.4 ms (tau 2) in control and 12 ± 1.8 ms (tau 1) and 64.9 ± 5.3 ms (tau 2) after ANG II(n = 13, NS).

Because Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> accelerates ICa inactivation, the peak current amplitude should increase and the rate of inactivation decrease when the Ca2+ buffer capacity of the pipette solution used in the WC recordings increases. The control inactivation time constants of the WC recordings performed with 5 mM EGTA (tau 1, 16 ± 1.5 ms; tau 2, 89 ± 9 ms; n = 24) were higher but not statistically different (repeated measures ANOVA for unpaired values) than the ones obtained with 0.1 mM EGTA (see above). Because EGTA is a poor subsarcolemmal Ca2+ buffer (38), this discrepancy was likely due to the fact that, as the L-type ICa was augmented, the increased Ca2+ entry would lead to an accumulation of Ca2+ (ions) in the vicinity of the inner mouth of the channels. This would accelerate inactivation of the channel and outweigh the effect of providing a low cytosolic Ca2+. Moreover, when the cells were dialyzed with the fast Ca2+ buffer, (BAPTA, which is reported to be efficient in chelating subsarcolemmal Ca2+; Ref. 38), the rate of inactivation was significantly slowed (tau 1, 35.4 ± 1.9 ms; tau 2, 166 ± 19 ms; n = 6, P < 0.05, repeated measures ANOVA for unpaired values).

Activation of cardiac AT1 receptors by ANG II leads to the stimulation of several PKC isoforms, including Ca2+-dependent (classic) (32) and Ca2+-independent (novel) (16, 32) types. Although it was previously suggested (3, 4) that ANG II induced enhancement of ICa because of stimulation of PKC, no convincing evidence was provided linking the hormone, the receptor, and the kinase. Figure 8A shows representative traces of ICa before and after bath application of ANG II recorded under WC in myocytes dialyzed with the PKC inhibitor calphostin C (1 µM) or chelerythrine (50 µM). The increase in ICa was prevented when the cells were dialyzed with these PKC inhibitors. The overall results of these experiments are shown in Fig. 8B. PP was also used in three myocytes pretreated for 60 min with calphostin C (1 µM). Under these conditions and in the continuous presence of calphostin C in the bath, ANG II failed to induce an increase in ICa (at 0 mV, -2.3 ± 0.6 pA/pF in control and -2.6 ± 0.7 pA/pF after ANG II; NS). Despite the fact that calphostin C has been reported to be a direct ICa blocker (10), in the present experiments, this compound did not affect basal ICa. Indeed, other studies (8, 36) obtained similar results. The reason for this controversy is not apparent to us. Nevertheless, we cannot completely deny the possibility that the lack of specificity of the organic kinase inhibitory agents used in the present study could enable them to act through pathways other than PKC. Specific peptide inhibitors of PKC would be useful tools to strengthen the present data.


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Fig. 8.   ANG II effects on ICa registered under WC configuration in cells dialyzed with 0.1 mM EGTA, 30 mM HEPES, and the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor calphostin C (1 µM) or chelerythrine (50 µM). A: representative traces of ICa compensated for cell capacitance, recorded before and after application of ANG II to the bath solution, in myocytes dialyzed with calphostin C (top) or chelerythrine (bottom). The WC currents were evoked by a voltage-clamp depolarizing step to 0 mV (250 ms) from a prepulse potential of -40 mV. B: average data of peak ICa density of 6 cells dialyzed with calphostin C (left) and 7 cells dialyzed with chelerythrine (right), recorded at 0 mV before (open bar) and after ANG II (solid bar). No statistically significant effects of ANG II on ICa were detected in the presence of the PKC inhibitors.


    DISCUSSION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

The present study demonstrates that ANG II activation of AT1 receptors increases cardiac ICa by stimulation of PKC and via a Ca2+-dependent and pHi-independent mechanism. An important contribution of our study is that to observe these effects, it is necessary to allow for certain levels of Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> in the WC recordings or to preserve the intracellular milieu using the PP configuration.

Controversial results were previously obtained by several researchers when the effects of ANG II on ICa were studied in isolated myocytes. This peptide was reported to cause an increase (3, 4, 15), no effect (1, 12), and even a decrease (8) in basal ICa. One possible explanation for these discrepant results could be differences in the effect of the peptide in different types of cardiac cells or the species involved. An alternative explanation could be related to the fact that most of these studies attempted to measure the effect of ANG II on ICa using the WC mode of the patch-clamp technique. As in these previous studies, in the present work, ANG II induced variable results when the cells were dialyzed with a conventional pipette solution containing a millimolar concentration of the widely used Ca2+ chelator, EGTA. Under these conditions, only a few cells exhibited an increase in ICa on ANG II exposure. Because EGTA is a slow Ca2+ buffer, we can speculate that in these cells, incoming and/or subsarcolemmal Ca2+ was not being properly chelated (38). Moreover, when the more rapid Ca2+ buffer, BAPTA (38), was dialyzed into the cells, none of the myocytes showed a positive response after ANG II.

The data presented herein raise the obvious question of whether studies that failed to detect enhancement of ICa by ANG II in ventricular myocytes were performed using pipette solutions with high Ca2+ buffering capacity. Accordingly, no change in ICa after ANG II was observed by Ai et al. (1) or Ikenouchi et al. (12), and both used high EGTA in the pipette solution. However, in the latter study, Ca2+ was also added to the pipette solution, and the free Ca2+ was estimated to be ~100 nM. On the other hand, Allen et al. (3) reported ICa augmentation after ANG II, using very low concentrations of EGTA in the pipette. In contrast, De Mello (4) and Kaibara et al. (15) observed that ANG II induced ICa augmentation, using high EGTA in the pipette. The reasons for this discrepancy are not apparent to us. Perhaps the changes in Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> due to Ca2+ influx or Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the variability of our data with high EGTA (as mentioned above), or differences in the Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> handling by the different species used could account for the controversy. The use of the more efficient Ca2+ chelator BAPTA, which consistently inhibited the ANG II-induced ICa augmentation in the present study, would help to bring further insight into this issue.

Kaibara et al. (15) described an attractive mechanism to explain the ANG II-induced cardiac ICa enhancement. They proposed that ICa increases after ANG II as a result of activation of NHE and the subsequent intracellular alkalization. The ANG II-induced ICa enhancement observed in the present study does not support Kaibara et al. conclusions (15), because this effect was still present in the presence of NHE blockade in the PP experiments and in the presence of high pH buffer capacity in the pipette solution in the WC experiments.

The NHE blocker, HOE-642, was used in our study, whereas Kaibara et al. (15) used amiloride derivatives in their work. Whether these different experimental conditions could explain the discrepant results observed is not apparent to us. We should not disregard that amiloride derivatives are less specific blockers of NHE than HOE-642, and, among other currents, inhibition of ICa by these drugs was previously reported (27). This independence of pHi changes of the ICa enhancement induced by ANG II can be also supported by the experiments of Ikenouchi et al. (12): despite a significant increase of 0.2 pH units in pHi after ANG II, no changes in ICa were detected. Moreover, Le Grand et al. (21) reported an ANG II-induced enhancement of ICa during superfusion of the cells with an Na+-free solution, a situation in which the NHE cannot be functional.

Similar to what was reported for beta -adrenoceptor agonists (14, 34), ANG II induced a negative shift in VI peak consistent with a negative shift in the voltage dependence for steady-state activation. Although Allen et al. (3) have previously reported a negative shift in the V0.5 of activation after ANG II, no change in the shape of the current-voltage relation was observed. The voltage dependence for activation appears to be governed by the properties of the charge movement of the voltage-sensing moiety of the channel. Josephson and Sperelakis (14) related the negative shift in the ICa VI peak and voltage dependence of activation observed after isoproterenol with parallel changes in the gating charge movements produced by phosphorylation of the channels. Whether ANG II produces similar changes in the gating charge movement of ICa remains to be investigated.

As was previously reported by Allen et al. (3), in the present study, we did not detect changes in the time constants of ICa inactivation after ANG II. This is in contrast to ICa augmentation after PKA (39) or Ca2+-calmodulin (CaM) kinase II activation (5). The latter signaling molecules shift the discrete modes of gating of single-channel currents from a short-opening mode (mode 1) to a long-opening mode (mode 2). The presence of mode 2 slows the inactivation kinetics of the WC currents. Thus, on the basis of the present data, ANG II and PKC phosphorylation may not involve a modal gating shift. Furthermore, this hypothesis is supported by single-channel recordings from cell-attached patches performed by Kaibara et al. (15), in which ANG II increased the open probability of L-type Ca2+ channels without affecting the pattern of channel opening.

Direct activation of PKC by phorbol esters leading to increased ICa was previously reported (20, 22, 30). However, PKC involvement in the ANG II-induced ICa enhancement has not been studied carefully. Allen et al. (3) have shown that ANG II increased phosphoinositide hydrolysis, and they related these effects with a possible role of PKC in the ICa enhancement induced by the peptide. De Mello (4) has recently demonstrated that PKC inhibition prevented the increase in ICa produced by ANG II administered intracellularly, a pathway insensitive to Los and probably involving receptors different than AT1. Thus our data assessing PKC inhibition represent a new piece of information for the cardiac ICa enhancement through the pathway involving extracellular ANG II, AT1 receptors, and PKC activation.

In the present study, we have shown that either Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> chelation or PKC inhibition was needed to prevent the ANG II-induced ICa enhancement. An attractive hypothesis would be that ANG II induces an increase in ICa through the activation of a Ca2+-dependent PKC isoform. In accordance with our data, Heath and Terrar (11) recently reported that activation of delayed rectifier K+ current after direct activation of PKC by phorbol dibutyrate was prevented in myocytes pretreated with the Ca2+ chelator BAPTA-AM (acetoxymethyl ester of BAPTA) (11). Thus, similar to our speculation, they suggested that a Ca2+-dependent PKC isoform was involved in these effects. Further studies using selective PKC isoform blockers are needed to bring new insights to this issue. Nevertheless, our present data do not aim to characterize the PKC isoform involved in the ANG II effect on ICa. In addition, although we could speculate that classic PKC isoforms are the enzymes involved in this mechanism, we cannot discard the possibility that a physiological level of Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> would be required to activate PKC via the phosphatidylinositol cycle through the activation of G proteins linked to Ca2+-dependent PLC (28, 33, 35).

In summary, results of this study suggest the following. 1) Changes in pHi do not seem to contribute to the ANG II-induced cardiac ICa enhancement. 2) A physiological level of Ca<UP><SUB>i</SUB><SUP>2+</SUP></UP> is required to observe the increase in cardiac ICa induced by ANG II. And 3) PKC activation is needed to produce stimulation of cardiac ICa after extracellular application of ANG II.


    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The technical assistance of Mónica Rando and Cristina Taraborrelli is gratefully acknowledged. E. A. Aiello and H. E. Cingolani are Established Investigators of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) de Argentina.


    FOOTNOTES

This study was supported by a grant (PEI 0321/98) from the CONICET de Argentina.

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: E. A. Aiello or H. E. Cingolani, Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, 60 y 120, La Plata 1900, Argentina (E-mail: cicme{at}atlas.med.unlp.edu.ar).

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received 17 July 2000; accepted in final form 17 November 2000.


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Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 280(4):H1528-H1536
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