Neurogenic inflammatory responses can be induced by antidromic electrical stimulation or intravenous capsaicin injection. These responses were thought to be caused by neuropeptides released from the sensory axon of C-fiber nerve endings. The relation of tachykinins, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) on electrical stimulation of thoracic vagus nerve (TVNS) or capsaicin-evoked neurogenic inflammation in respiratory tract of atropine-treated rats was not clear. In the present studies, the role of ROS and RNS on neurogenic inflammation were investigated in TVNS and capsaicin injected rats. The experiments were divided into two parts. In the first part, TVNS was performed by thoracotomy, non-cholinergic regulation of neurogenic plasma extravasation in the trachea and bronchi were examined, and whether TVNS via NK receptor facilitates neurogenic inflammation by nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-£eB) activation and ROS production were expored. Our results in this part showed that TVNS evoked substance P release, hypotension, bronchoconstriction (as shown by increases in smooth muscle electromyographic activity and total pulmonary resistance), trachea plasma extravasation as well as increases in blood O2- and H2O2 ROS amount in a frequency-dependent manner. Histopathological examination demonstrated silver-stained leaky venules, India-ink labeled plasma extravasation, and accumulations of inflammatory cells in the right lower trachea after TVNS. L-732138 (NK1 receptor antagonist), SR-48968 (NK2 receptor antagonist), dimethylthiourea (H2O2 scavenger) or catechins (O2- and H2O2 scavenger) pretreatment reduced TVNS-enhanced hypotension, bronchoconstriction, and plasma extravasation. TVNS upregulated the expression of NF-£eB in nuclear protein and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in total protein of the lower respiratory tract tissue in a frequency-dependent manner. The upregulation of NF-£eB and ICAM-1 was attenuated by NK receptor antagonist and antioxidants. In the second part, the contribution of nitric oxide (NO) to capsaicin-evoked airway responses was investigated in rats. The measurement of plasma NO level, airway dynamics, airway smooth muscle electromyogram, and plasma extravasation by India ink and Evans blue leakage technique was adapted. Our results in this part showed that capsaicin injection evoked hypotension, bronchoconstriction, trachea plasma extravasation as well as increases in plasma NO level in a dose-dependent manner. L-732138 or SR-48968 pretreatment reduced capsaicin-enhanced hypotension, bronchoconstriction, plasma extravasation, and plasma NO level. Inhibition of a non-selective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor (NG-nitro-L-Arginine methyl ester, L-NAME), or a selective inducible NO synthase (iNOS) inhibitor (aminoguanidine), reduced capsaicin-induced increases in plasma NO level and protected against capsaicin-induced plasma extravasation, whereas L-arginine (a NO precursor), enhances capsaicin-evoked plasma NO level and plasma extravasation. L-Arginine pretreatment ameliorated capsaicin-induced bronchoconstriction, whereas L-NAME and aminoguanidine exaggerated capsaicin-induced bronchoconstriction. In summary, both TVNS and capsaicin injection may increase oxidative stress responses. TVNS enhances proinflammatory NF-£eB and ICAM-1 expression, increases the production of O2- and H2O2 activity in the respiratory tract of atropine-treated rats. Pretreatment with antioxidants and selective NK receptor antagonists attenuate TVNS evoked airway hyperactivity, proinflammatory response, and oxidative stress. Capsaicin injection stimulates the release of tachykinins, which act on NK1 and NK2 receptors located on the smooth muscles of airways and blood vessels. The interaction of NK receptors with tachykinin enhances furtherly the NO formation, bronchoconstriction, vasodilation, and plasma extravasation in the trachea. The released tachykinins also increase the production of NO via iNOS, and iNOS -evoked NO counteracts tachykinin-mediated bronchoconstriction, but exacerbates tachykinin-mediated plasma extravasation.

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Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-84).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Institute of Paper Chemistry, 1939. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-145). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Plasma membrane calcium/calmodulin-dependent calcium ATPases (PMCAs) are high affinity calcium pumps regulating many calcium-dependent processes and advances in its characterisation have discovered that it may play a novel role in signal transduction pathways. It was the aim of this work to further characterise and confirm the role PMCA plays in regulating calcium/calmodulin-dependent signal transduction pathways. PMCA4 has already been shown to inhibit the NFAT family of transcription factors by its interaction with calcineurin A in mammalian cells when ectopically expressed. This prompted the investigation into other isoforms of PMCA that may interact with the calcium/calmodulin-dependent calcineurin, to determine if this interaction was isoform-specific in a variety of cell lines. Endogenous proteins were isolated by immunoprecipitation with calcineurin A antibody and the presence of PMCA isoforms was determined by western blot using isoform-specific antibodies. This work has demonstrated that the PMCA and calcineurin interaction occurs in vitro at endogenous levels in MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells and endothelial cells and is isoform specific, predominantly for PMCA2. The characterisation of the PMCA2b-calcineurin A interactive domain was performed and it was demonstrated that PMCA2b significantly inhibits the NFAT/calcineurin pathway. These results indicate that PMCA2 is important in regulating the calcineurin/NFAT pathway in tissues where it is highly expressed. This work also demonstrates that the Flag-tagged, characterised interaction domain of PMCA2 with calcineurin, F-PMCA(462-684) when overexpressed, can disrupt the inhibitory PMCA2/calcineurin interaction in endothelial cells and significantly increase calcineurin activity. The expression of PMCA in endothelial cells prompted the investigation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent proteins in endothelial cells as evidence for the important role of PMCA in regulating signal transduction pathways. Nitric oxide synthases have been shown to be regulated by PMCA4 in cardiac cells. To further characterise the regulation of NOS by PMCA, this work shows that there is a novel molecular interaction between endogenous eNOS and the plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA) in HUVEC primary endothelial cells. PMCA2 has been identified as the major isoform interacting with eNOS in endothelial cells. The interaction between the two proteins has been mapped to the region 735-934 of eNOS and 462-684 of human PMCA2b. NO production was found to be inhibited by ectopic expression of PMCA2b in HUVEC cells. Moreover, disruption of the interaction between endogenous PMCA and eNOS by overexpression of theFlag-tagged, PMCA2b interaction domain, F-PMCA2(462-684), significantly increased NO levels in activated HUVEC endothelial cells. In summary, these results offer strong evidence for a novel functional interaction between endogenous PMCA and eNOS in endothelial cells, suggesting a role for endothelial PMCA2 as a negative modulator of eNOS activity, and, therefore, NO-dependent signal transduction pathways. Overall this is a novel discovery which clearly demonstrates that PMCA is an important regulator of calcium/calmodulin-dependent signal transduction pathways in various cell types. Parts of this work have been published; ‘Holton, M., Yang, D., Wang, W., Mohamed, T.M., Neyses, L. and Armesilla, A. (2007) The interaction between endogenous calcineurin and the plasma membrane calcium-dependent ATPase is isoform specific in breast cancer cells. FEBS letter. 581(21), 4115-4119.’ and presented at ‘The 14th congress of calcium binding proteins, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. 2007’ and ‘The 25th Conference of the European Society on Microcirculation (August 26-29, 2008, Budapest, Hungary).’

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physiology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Physiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy