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Notes: Summary 1. The carrier-mediated transport of 3H-noradrenaline out of noradrenergic neurones was studied in vasa deferentia obtained from rats after pretreatment with reserpine and pargyline (to inhibit vesicular storage and monoamine oxidase, respectively). The tissue was first preincubated with various concentrations of 3H-noradrenaline (0.3–100 μmol/l; 30 min) and then washed out for 110 min with amine-free medium. During the last 10 min of washout, carrier-mediated neuronal efflux of 3H-noradrenaline was elicited by exposure to either Na+-free medium or 100 μmol/l veratridine; it was measured at 1-min intervals. 2. While the peak rates of carrier-mediated 3H-noradrenaline efflux elicited by Na+-free medium were linearly related to the 3H-noradrenaline content of the tissue (which cannot be raised beyond a certain maximal value, since uptake is saturable), those evoked in response to veratridine approached saturation as the 3H-noradrenaline level in the tissue was raised. Hence, saturation of 3H-noradrenaline outward transport was demonstrated at high (exposure to veratridine), but not at low (exposure to Na+-free medium) intraneuronal Na+ concentrations. 3. The results indicate that the K m for the mediated outward transport of noradrenaline across the plasma membrane of noradrenergic neurones is inversely related to the internal Na+ concentration, just as the K m for the mediated inward transport of noradrenaline (i.e., the neuronal noradrenaline uptake) is inversely related to the external Na+ concentration.

Notes: Summary (1) Vasa deferentia obtained from reserpine-pretreated rats were exposed to 0.15 μmol 1−1 3H-(−)noradrenaline (with monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase being inhibited) and initial rates of the neuronal 3H-noradrenaline uptake as well as IC50 values for inhibition of uptake by desipramine, cocaine or (−)metaraminol determined at various external Cl− concentrations (0–145 mmol 1−1) and a fixed high Na+ concentration (145 mmoll−1). (2) When the Cl− concentration in the medium was decreased neuronal uptake fell. As far as Cl− concentrations ranging from 10 to 145 mmol 1−1 are concerned, the dependence of uptake on Cl− obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with an apparent K m and V max of 6.2 mmol 1−1 and 116 pmol g−1 min−1, respectively. At Cl− concentrations below 10 mmol l−1, uptake was higher than expected from the values of K m and V max, and even in the nominal absence of Cl− from the medium a remainder of neuronal uptake was still detectable. Evidence is presented to show that, on incubation at Cl− concentrations below 10 mmol l−1, intracelluar Cl− leaks out, so that the actual Cl− concentrations in the extracellular fluid are probably higher than in the medium. (3) The potencies of desipramine and cocaine for inhibition of neuronal uptake were markedly dependent on the Cl− concentration in the medium, but the type of Cl− dependence differed. While the IC50 for desipramine decreased, that for cocaine increased with increasing Cl− concentration (2–145 mmol l−1). The value of IC50 for cocaine and that of 1/IC50 for desipramine approached saturation (with an apparent Hill coefficient of about unity) when plotted against the Cl− concentration; half-maximum values were observed at Cl− concentrations of 9 and 24 mmol l−1, respectively. (4) (−)Metaraminol (an alternative substrate of the noradrenaline carrier) remained equally potent in inhibiting neuronal uptake when the Cl− concentration was decreased from 145 to 2 mmol l−1. However, when Cl− was omitted from the medium, the IC50 for (−)metaraminol increased. Hence, the C−-dependence of the potency of (−)metaraminol appears to be restricted to very low extracellular Cl− concentrations. (5) It is concluded that not only the neuronal uptake process itself, but also its inhibition by desipramine and cocaine are highly Cl−-dependent. Since desipramine and cocaine differ with respect to the type of Cl−-dependence of their inhibitory potency, they are likely to act by combining with distinctly different states of the noradrenaline carrier. It is suggested that desipramine interacts with the carrier loaded with Cl− while cocaine is capable of interacting with its Cl−-free state.

Notes: Summary Isolated rat hearts were perfused according to the Langendorff technique and both extraneuronal uptake of noradrenaline and COMT were inhibited. The noradrenergic neurones were first prelabelled with 3H-(−)-noradrenaline (13 nmol/1). Thereafter the hearts were submitted to global ischemia (perfusion rate reduced from 5 up to 0.5 ml/min) for 60 min and subsequently reperfused for 5 min. The coronary effluent was continuously collected and analyzed for the appearance of 3H-noradrenaline and its metabolites. 1. Global ischemia was associated with an early release of 3H-noradrenaline. At reperfusion a brisk increase in the FRL of 3H-noradrenaline was observed which may indicate that, on severe restriction in coronary flow, perfusion of the tissue became heterogenous and thus partially masked the amount of 3H-noradrenaline released from the noradrenergic nerve terminals. Gradual reduction in coronary flow also progressively reduced (but did not abolish) the total formation of 3H-DOPEG. 2. The maximal efflux of 3H-noradrenaline was observed during the 1st min of reperfusion whereafter the efflux declined rapidly, indicating a wash-out of transmitter trapped in the extracellular space. The efflux of the lipophilic metabolite 3H-DOPEG, on the other hand, continuously increased during the reperfusion. This was due to both new formation and “wash-out” of 3H-DOPEG retained and/or distributed into the tissue during the period of restricted flow. 3. Neither a reduction of the extracellular calcium concentration (from 2.6 mmol/l to 0.1 mmol/1) nor the presence of the calcium entry blocker verapamil (250 nmol/l) reduced the efflux of 3H-noradrenaline seen during ischemia and reperfusion. 4. Desipramine (100 nmol/l) markedly reduced the ischemia-induced release of 3H-noradrenaline and simultaneously attenuated the formation of 3H-DOPEG. 5. A moderate reduction in the ischemia-induced mobilization of 3H-noradrenaline was seen in hearts perfused with 1μol/l reserpine, whereas the formation of 3H-DOPEG from such hearts was markedly higher than in corresponding controls. Only minor deviations from this pattern was observed when desipramine was present in addition to reserpine. It is concluded that a severe restriction in myocardial perfusion rate is associated with an enhanced net leakage of vesicular noradrenaline. This results in a rise of the free axoplasmic noradrenaline concentration which, in combination with an altered transmembrane sodium gradient, induces an increased local release of noradrenaline partly mediated by a calcium-independent, carrier-mediated outward transport. Desipramine, which inhibits this transport mechanism, may have, in addition to its effect on the membrane carrier, an additional effect in reducing the net leakage of transmitter from storage vesicles. Furthermore, despite severe restriction in coronary flow, and thus oxygen delivery, DOPEG is still formed, possibly as a consequence of the elevated axoplasmic noradrenaline concentration which may in part compensate for a reduced monoamineoxidase activity.

Notes: Summary 1) The veratridine-induced release of 3H-noradrenaline from noradrenergic neurones was examined in the isolated vas deferens of either untreated or reserpine plus pargyline-pretreated rats. The rat vas deferens, whose catechol O-methyltransferase was inhibited, was first incubated with 0.4 μmol/l 3H-(−)noradrenaline (30 min) and then washed repeatedly with amine-free solution. After 120 min (i.e., well after the efflux of tritium from the tissue had reached a steady level and was predominantly of neuronal origin), washout was continued in the presence of veratridine for further 10–15 min. 2) In vasa deferentia of untreated rats, variatridine (1–100 μmol/l) caused a concentration-dependent increase in the efflux of tritium. At high concentrations of the drug (30 or 100 μmol/l), this increase in efflux was peak-like during the first 3 min (“peak response”) and then fell to a plateau (“plateau response”). In the presence of veratridine, unchanged 3H-noradrenaline accounted for about 75% of the tritium efflux (the rest being represented by deaminated 3H-catechol metabolites). 3) The “peak response” to veratridine (100 μmol/l) was abolished by tetrodotoxin (TTX; 1 μmol/l) or the absence of external Ca2+. Cocaine (10 μmol/l) affected neither the “peak response” as such nor the contribution by 3H-noradrenaline to the efflux of tritium during that response. Hence, the “peak response” was due to exocytotic release of 3H-noradrenaline from the neurone. 4) The “plateau response” to veratridine (100 μmol/l) was unaffected by the absence of external Ca2+, largely resistant to TTX (1 μmol/l) and moderately reduced by cocaine. However, both TTX and cocaine drastically changed the composition of the radioactivity during the “plateau response”: they greatly reduced or even abolished the efflux of unchanged 3H-noradrenaline and markedly increased the efflux of deaminated 3H-metabolites. Hence, the “plateau response” represented a “reserpine-like” vesicular effect of varatridine; the ensuing 3H-noradrenaline efflux out of the neurone was mediated by the neuronal amine carrier. 5) After pretreatment with reserpine (to inhibit vesicular uptake) and pargyline (to inhibit monoamine oxidase), veratridine (100 μmol/l) elicited a phasic, peak-like increase in the efflux of tritium (about 90% of which was unchanged 3H-noradrenaline). This response to veratridine was abolished by TTX (1 μmol/l) and unaffected by the absence of external Ca2+; moreover, it was greatly reduced by either cocaine (10 μmol/l) or desipramine (1 μmol/l) and, hence brought about by carrier-mediated outward transport across the axonal membrane. 6) It is concluded that, in addition to its well-known action on the fast sodium channel, veratridine somehow increases the leakage of noradrenaline from storage vesicles; this “reserpine-like” effect of veratridine is resistant to TTX and therefore not a consequence of the drug-induced changes in the sodium permeability of the axolemma.

Notes: Summary 1. The effects of choline+ (10–40 mmol/l) on 3H-noradrenaline uptake by, and 3H-noradrenaline efflux from, noradrenergic neurones were studied in vasa deferentia of reserpine-pretreated rats at an external Na+ concentration of 100 mmol/l. Monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase were inhibited. 2. Choline+ (20 and 40 mmol/l) competitively inhibited the neuronal uptake of 3H-noradrenaline. From the choline+-induced changes in the apparent Km for 3H-noradrenaline transport, a Ki of 35 mmol/l was obtained. 3. Choline+ (10, 20 and 40 mmol/l) accelerated the neuronal efflux of 3H-noradrenaline in a concentration-dependent manner. This acceleration of efflux was greatly reduced in the presence of 1 μmol/l desipramine, indicating that choline+ is capable of eliciting “accelerative exchange diffusion”. 4. Choline+ (40 mmol/l) and (−)noradrenaline (4.5 μmol/l) (i.e., concentrations about equivalent to the Ki and Km for choline+ and (−)noradrenaline, respectively) produced virtually identical increases in the neuronal efflux of 3H-noradrenaline. 5. Choline+ (3–300 mmol/l) inhibited the specific binding of 3H-desipramine to plasma membranes derived from cultured rat phaeochromocytoma (PC-12) cells. The Ki for this interaction was 48 mmol/l. 6. This results suggest that choline+ acts as alternative substrate of the neuronal noradrenaline transport system and should, therefore, not be used in transport studies with noradrenaline as substitute for Na+ in Na+-deficient media.

Notes: Summary 1. To examine whether K+ affects the potency of inhibitors of neuronal uptake, experiments were carried out in the rat vas deferens after pretreatment of the animals with reserpine and after inhibition of monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase. Initial rates of the neuronal uptake of 3H-noradrenaline and IC50 values for uptake inhibition by desipramine, cocaine and (−)metaraminol were determined in the presence of various concentrations of external K+ (5–45 mmol/l), both at 100 mmol/l Na+ and 50 mmol/l Na+. 2. When measured at the 3H-noradrenaline concentration used to determine IC50 values (0.024 μmol/l), neuronal uptake was progressively impaired by increasing K+ concentrations at 50, but not at 100 mmol/l Na+. 3. Neither at 100 mmol/l Na+ nor at 50 mmol/l Na+ was there any consistent, concentration-dependent effect of K+ on the IC50 values of desipramine, cocaine and (−)metaraminol. 4. The analysis of the saturation kinetics of 3H-noradrenaline uptake (determined in the presence of 50 mmol/l Na+ at 5 mmol/l K+ or 45 mmol/l K+) showed that high K+ concentrations inhibit neuronal uptake by decreasing V max without any change in K max. 5. The results indicate that K+ does not competitively interact with Na+ at sites on the noradrenaline carrier which mediate the tansport-stimulating properties of Na+ Hence, the inhibition of neuronal uptake produced by high K+ concentrations is probably due to membrane depolarization which simply reduces V max.

Notes: Summary Possible effects of (±)-dobutamine on adrenergic nerve endings were determined in experiments with ghosts of bovine chromaffin granules, with rat phaeochromocytoma (PC-12) cells and with the rat vas deferens. Dobutamine inhibited the vesicular uptake of a mixture of 70% adrenaline + 30% 3H-noradrenaline into ghosts, with an IC50 of 1.7 μmol/l. Dobutamine inhibited uptake, of 3H-noradrenaline in PC-12 cells (with an IC50 of 0.38 μmol/l) without being a substrate. However, dobutamine easily entered PC-12 cells by diffusion. After inhibition of MAO, COMT and vesicular uptake dobutamine (15 and 45 μmol/l) released tritium from rat vasa deferentia preloaded with 3H-noradrenaline. Equi-inhibitory concentrations of dobutamine and desipramine (against uptake1) were equireleasing. On the other hand, when MAO and vesicular uptake were intact, dobutamine (15 μmol/l) increased the efflux of tritium from preloaded vasa deferentia much more than did an equi-inhibitory concentration of desipramine. Most of the released tritium was then 3H-DOPEG. Dobutamine is a potent inhibitor of uptake1 as well as of vesicular uptake; moreover, it easily diffuses into adrenergic nerve endings. Hence, it blocks the neuronal and the vesicular re-uptake of noradrenaline; consequently, when MAO and vesicular uptake are intact, dobutamine increases the net leakage of noradrenaline from the storage vesicles, thereby leading to an efflux of deaminated metabolites. However, dobutamine is virtually unable to release noradrenaline into the extracellular space.