The effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the release of glutamate from mouse spinal cord nerve endings have been studied using superfused synaptosomes. GABA elicited a concentration-dependent release of [3H]D-aspartate ([3H]D-ASP; EC50= 3.76 microM). Neither muscimol nor (-)baclofen mimicked GABA, excluding receptor involvement. The GABA-evoked release was strictly Na+ dependent and was...

The activation of Ca(2+)-dependent Cl(-) channels during norepinephrine-induced contraction of vascular smooth muscle was suggested to depolarize cell membrane and to increase Ca(2+) entry. Hypertension and ageing are associated with altered Ca(2+) handling including possible activation of Ca(2+)-dependent Cl(-) channels. Our study was aimed to determine Ca(2+)-dependent Cl(-) channels contribu...

It was reported earlier that 7B-1 mutant in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), an ABA overproducer, is defective in blue light (BL) signaling leading to BL-specific resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. In this work, we examine responses of stomata to blue, red and white lights, fusicoccin, anion channel blockers (anthracene-9-carboxylic acid; 9-AC and niflumic acid; NIF) and ABA. Our resul...

PURPOSE To investigate presence, location and functional role of calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC) Anoctamin-1 (Ano1) in rat urinary bladder. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bladders from 3 week old Wistar rats were studied. End-point PCR on total mRNA was used to assess the expression of Ano1. Immunofluorescent labelling of whole mount bladder tissue imaged with confocal microscope allowed loc...

Activation of a Cl- current is critical to agonist-induced activation of rat aortic smooth muscle contraction. Substituting extracellular Cl- with 130 mM methanesulfonate (8 mM Cl-) increases the contractile response to norepinephrine (NE) but not to KCl. We hypothesized that endothelial factors modulate this effect. Removing the endothelium (rubbing) or treatment with N-nitrol-arginine (l-NNA)...

A multiwavelength spectrophotometric approach has been developed to determine acid dissociation constants (pKa values) of sparingly soluble drug compounds. UV absorption spectra of the drug solution are acquired using a versatile device based on a fiber optics dip probe, a light source and a photodiode array (PDA) detector while the PH and the ionic strength of the chemical system is manipulate...

The effect of fenamates on gap junctional intercellular communication was investigated in monolayers of normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts and of SKHep1 cells overexpressing the gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43). Using two different methods to study gap junctional intercellular communication, single electrode voltage-clamp step response measurements and dye microinjection, we show that fe...

Niflumic acid, 2-[[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]amino]pyridine-3-carboxylic acid (NFA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that also blocks or modifies the gating of many ion channels. Here, we investigated the effects of NFA on hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation (HCN) pacemaker channels expressed in X. laevis oocytes using site-directed mutagenesis and the two-electr...

In addition to blocking cyclooxygenases, members of the fenamate group of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been proposed to affect brain GABAA receptors. Using quantitative autoradiography with GABAA receptor-associated ionophore ligand [35S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) on rat brain sections, one of the fenamates, niflumate, at micromolar concentration was found to potentiate...