RESUMO
Upregulation of caveolin-3 (Cav-3) or connexin-43 (Cx43) in astrocytes has been associated with important brain pathologies. We used Phoneutria nigriventer spider venom (PNV), which induces blood-brain barrier breakdown in rats, in order to investigate Cav-3 and Cx43 expression in the cerebellum over critical periods of rat envenomation. By immunofluorescence, western blotting (WB), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we assessed changes at 1, 2, 5, 24, and 72 h post-venom. WB showed immediate increases in Cav-3 and Cx43 at 1 h (interval of greatest manifestations of envenomation) that persisted at 5 h (when there were signs of recovery) and peaked at 24 h when no signs of envenomation were detectable. At 2 and 72 h, Cav-3 was downregulated and Cx43 had returned to baseline. PNV markedly intensified Cx43 in molecular, Purkinje and granular layers and Cav-3 in astrocytes whose colocalization to increased GFAP suggests interaction between reactive astrogliosis and Cav-3 upregulation. TEM showed swollen perivascular astrocytic end-feet and synaptic contact alterations that had generally resolved by 72 h. It is uncertain whether such PNV-induced synchronized changes are an interactive effect between Cav-3 and Cx43, or a bystander effect. Evidences indicate that Cav-3 downregulation coupled to Cx43 return to baseline at 72 h when no signs of envenomation were visible, suggesting homeostasis reestablishment. This experimental model is relevant to studying mechanisms involved in neurological disorders associated with Cav-3 overexpression.
Assuntos
Barreira Hematoencefálica/efeitos dos fármacos , Caveolina 3/metabolismo , Conexina 43/metabolismo , Neurotoxinas/farmacologia , Venenos de Aranha/farmacologia , Animais , Astrócitos/efeitos dos fármacos , Astrócitos/metabolismo , Barreira Hematoencefálica/metabolismo , Barreira Hematoencefálica/ultraestrutura , Caveolina 3/genética , Cerebelo/efeitos dos fármacos , Cerebelo/metabolismo , Cerebelo/ultraestrutura , Conexina 43/genética , Masculino , Neurotoxinas/toxicidade , Ratos , Venenos de Aranha/toxicidade , Sinapses/efeitos dos fármacos , Sinapses/metabolismoRESUMO
PURPOSE: During the postnatal stage, cardiovascular nitric oxide (NO) system and caveolins (cav) may be regulated differentially in response to hypovolemic state induced by water restriction. Our aim was to examine the effects of water restriction on NO synthases (NOS) and cav in the atria, ventricle and aorta of growing rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 25 and 50 days were divided into (n = 15): WR: water restriction 3 days; WAL: water ad libitum 3 days. Systolic blood pressure, NOS activity and NOS/cav protein levels were measured. RESULTS: Dehydration induced a larger increase in SBP in WR25 group. Ventricular NOS activity, endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal isoform (nNOS) of WR25 pups were increased, and both cav were decreased. In the WR50 group, NOS activity remained unchanged. In the atria, NOS activity, eNOS and nNOS decreased in WR25 associated with increased cav-1; in the WR50 group, NOS activity was increased without changes in NOS isoforms. In the aorta of WR25, NOS activity and inducible NOS (iNOS) were decreased; NOS activity was unchanged in WR50, despite the decreased levels of eNOS and increased iNOS, cav-1 and cav-3. CONCLUSIONS: NO system adjustments in cardiovascular system under osmotic stress in vivo depend on postnatal age, being eNOS and nNOS, the isoforms that determine NOS activity in cardiac tissue in 25-day-old pups. Changes in cav abundance during hypovolemic state may contribute to age-related NO production.
Assuntos
Sistema Cardiovascular/metabolismo , Caveolina 1/metabolismo , Caveolina 3/metabolismo , Desidratação , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo I/metabolismo , Animais , Pressão Sanguínea , Caveolina 1/genética , Caveolina 3/genética , Endotélio/metabolismo , Átrios do Coração/metabolismo , Ventrículos do Coração/metabolismo , Hemodinâmica , Hipovolemia/metabolismo , Masculino , Óxido Nítrico/metabolismo , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo I/genética , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/genética , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/metabolismo , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo III/genética , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo III/metabolismo , Pressão Osmótica , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Substâncias Reativas com Ácido TiobarbitúricoRESUMO
Caveolins are integral membrane proteins implicated in cholesterol homeostasis and transport, endocytosis mechanisms and regulation of signal transduction in differentiated cells. In this work a caveolin-1 gene from the nematode Trichinella spiralis (Ts-cav-1) was cloned and identified as an adult-specific antigen. For this, a cDNA library of T. spiralis 3-day-old adult worms was screened using a stage-specific cDNA-labelled probe. One positive clone contained a cDNA insert of 1427-bp and a full-length open reading frame (ORF) of 687-bp, which encodes for a 229 amino acid polypeptide with a theoretical molecular weight of 26kDa. BLAST and FASTA searches revealed a 36% and 57% identity with Caenorhabditis elegans caveolin-1, respectively. Confocal laser microscopy analysis using antibodies generated against Ts-CAV-1 protein and cross-sections of adult parasites showed that Ts-CAV-1 gradually accumulates on the surface of Trichinella oocytes and embryos, reaching a maximum at 3days p.i., and decreasing during new-born larvae (NBL) development. RT-PCR assays of parasites from 1 to 4days p.i. showed a similar gene expression profile to that observed for Ts-CAV-1 which suggests a specific developmental regulation. Free cholesterol was mainly distributed in the female germ line and it displayed increasing membrane accumulation, similar to the pattern obtained for Ts-CAV-1 protein, which suggests a temporal membrane association with Ts-CAV-1 that in turn will perform the functions mentioned above. Our results strongly indicate that Ts-cav-1 from T. spiralis plays a role in oocyte maturation and embryogenesis during development, demonstrating gender-specific expression.
Assuntos
Caveolina 1/isolamento & purificação , Embrião não Mamífero/metabolismo , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Oocistos/metabolismo , Trichinella spiralis/embriologia , Trichinella spiralis/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Antígenos de Helmintos/genética , Sequência de Bases , Western Blotting/métodos , Caveolina 1/genética , Caveolina 1/metabolismo , Caveolina 3/genética , Feminino , Expressão Gênica , Microscopia Confocal , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa/métodosRESUMO
Rippling muscle disease (RMD) is a benign myopathy with symptoms and signs of muscular hyperirritability. We report a 17-year-old patient who presented with muscular hypertrophy, local mounding on percussion, and a rippling phenomenon. Needle electromyography showed electrical silence during the rippling phenomenon. Muscle protein immunohistochemical analysis showed a partial deficiency of caveolin-3. Molecular analysis revealed a novel heterozygous A>C transition at nucleotide position 140 in exon 2 of the caveolin-3 gene. We associated this novel mutation with RMD.