Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (3)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (3)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (2)
- Journal article (1)
Language
- English (3) (remove)
Keywords
- cAMP (3) (remove)
Institute
- Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie (3) (remove)
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number
- 324612 (1)
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), the ubiquitous second messenger produced upon stimulation of GPCRs which couple to the stimulatory GS protein, orchestrates an array of physiological processes including cardiac function, neuronal plasticity, immune responses, cellular proliferation and apoptosis. By interacting with various effector proteins, among others protein kinase A (PKA) and exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (Epac), it triggers signaling cascades for the cellular response. Although the functional outcomes of GSPCR-activation are very diverse depending on the extracellular stimulus, they are all mediated exclusively by this single second messenger. Thus, the question arises how specificity in such responses may be attained. A hypothesis to explain signaling specificity is that cellular signaling architecture, and thus precise operation of cAMP in space and time would appear to be essential to achieve signaling specificity. Compartments with elevated cAMP levels would allow specific signal relay from receptors to effectors within a micro- or nanometer range, setting the molecular basis for signaling specificity. Although the paradigm of signaling compartmentation gains continuous recognition and is thoroughly being investigated, the molecular composition of such compartments and how they are maintained remains to be elucidated. In addition, such compartments would require very restricted diffusion of cAMP, but all direct measurements have indicated that it can diffuse in cells almost freely.
In this work, we present the identification and characterize of a cAMP signaling compartment at a GSPCR. We created a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based receptor-sensor conjugate, allowing us to study cAMP dynamics in direct vicinity of the human glucagone-like peptide 1 receptor (hGLP1R). Additional targeting of analogous sensors to the plasma membrane and the cytosol enables assessment of cAMP dynamics in different subcellular regions. We compare both basal and stimulated cAMP levels and study cAMP crosstalk of different receptors. With the design of novel receptor nanorulers up to 60nm in length, which allow mapping cAMP levels in nanometer distance from the hGLP1R, we identify a cAMP nanodomain surrounding it. Further, we show that phosphodiesterases (PDEs), the only enzymes known to degrade cAMP, are decisive in constraining cAMP diffusion into the cytosol thereby maintaining a cAMP gradient. Following the discovery of this nanodomain, we sought to investigate whether downstream effectors such as PKA are present and active within the domain, additionally studying the role of A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) in targeting PKA to the receptor compartment. We demonstrate that GLP1-produced cAMP signals translate into local nanodomain-restricted PKA phosphorylation and determine that AKAP-tethering is essential for nanodomain PKA.
Taken together, our results provide evidence for the existence of a dynamic, receptor associated cAMP nanodomain and give prospect for which key proteins are likely to be involved in its formation. These conditions would allow cAMP to exert its function in a spatially and temporally restricted manner, setting the basis for a cell to achieve signaling specificity. Understanding the molecular mechanism of cAMP signaling would allow modulation and thus regulation of GPCR signaling, taking advantage of it for pharmacological treatment.
The second messenger cyclic AMP (cAMP) plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Although there is evidence for local control of synaptic transmission and plasticity, it is less clear whether a similar spatial confinement of cAMP signaling exists. Here, we suggest a possible biophysical basis for the site-specific regulation of synaptic plasticity by cAMP, a highly diffusible small molecule that transforms the physiology of synapses in a local and specific manner. By exploiting the octopaminergic system of Drosophila, which mediates structural synaptic plasticity via a cAMP-dependent pathway, we demonstrate the existence of local cAMP signaling compartments of micrometer dimensions within single motor neurons. In addition, we provide evidence that heterogeneous octopamine receptor localization, coupled with local differences in phosphodiesterase activity, underlies the observed differences in cAMP signaling in the axon, cell body, and boutons.
The cyclic nucleotides cAMP and cGMP are two ubiquitous important second messengers, which regulate diverse physiological responses from vision and memory to blood pressure and thrombus formation. They act in cells via cAMP- and cGMP-dependent protein kinases (PKA and GK), cyclic nucleotide-gated channels and Epac. Although the concept of cyclic nucleotide signalling is well developed based on classical biochemical studies, these techniques have not allowed to analyze cAMP and cGMP in live cells with high temporal and spatial resolution. In the present study fluorescence resonance energy transfer was used to develop a technique for visualization of cAMP and cGMP in live cells and in vitro by means of fluorescent biosensors. Ligand-induced conformational change in a single nucleotide-binding domain flanked with green fluorescent protein mutants was used for dynamic, highly sensitive measurements of cAMP and cGMP. Such biosensors retained binding properties and chemical specificity of unmodified domains, allowing to image cyclic nucleotides in a physiologically relevant range of concentrations. To develop cAMP-sensors, binding domains of PKA, Epac and cAMP-gated HCN-channel were used. cGMP-sensors were based on single domains of GK and phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Sensors based on Epac were used to analyze spatio-temporal dynamics of cAMP in neurons and macrophages, demonstrating that cAMP-gradients travel with a high speed (~ 40 μm/s) throughout the entire cytosol. To understand the mechanisms of cAMP-compartmentation, kinetics properties of phosphodi-esterase (PDE2) were, next, analyzed in aldosterone producing cells. PDE2 is able to rapidly hydrolyze extensive amounts of cAMP, so that the speed of cAMP-hydrolysis is much faster than that of its synthesis, which might serve as a basis of compartmentation. cAMP-sensors were also used to develop a clinically relevant diagnostic method for reliable detection of β1-adrenergic receptor autoantibodies in cardiac myopathy patients, which has allowed to significantly increase the sensitivity of previously developed diagnostic approaches. Conformational change in a single binding domain of GK and PDE was, next, used to create novel fluorescent biosensors for cGMP. These sensors demonstrated high spatio-temporal resolution and were applied to analyze rapid dynamics of cGMP production by soluble and particulate guanylyl cyclases as well as to image cGMP in mesangial cells. In summary, highly sensitive biosensors for cAMP and cGMP based on single cyclic nucleotide-binding domains have been developed and used in various biological and clinically relevant applications.