AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 269, Issue 6 C1394-C1401, Copyright © 1995 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Tachykinins activate nonselective cation currents in canine colonic myocytes

H. K. Lee, C. W. Shuttleworth and K. M. Sanders
Department of Physiology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno 89557, USA.

The mechanism of tachykinin-induced excitation was studied in isolated colonic muscle cells and intact muscle strips. In whole cell voltage-clamp studies performed at 33 degrees C, neurokinin A (NKA) and substance P (SP) reduced L-type Ca2+ current. NKA and SP activated a cationic current that reversed near 0 mV. This current (INKA or ISP, respectively) had properties similar to the acetylcholine (ACh)-activated nonselective cation conductance (IACh), activated by muscarinic stimulation in other gastrointestinal smooth muscle cells. INKA and ISP were decreased when external Na+ was reduced. In contrast to IACh, INKA and ISP were not facilitated by increases in internal Ca2+, but little or no current was activated by these peptides when extracellular Ca2+ was low. INKA (10(-7) M) and ISP (10(-5) M) were blocked by Cd2+ (5 x 10(-4) M), quinine (10(-3) M), and the tachykinin-receptor antagonist [D-Pro2,D-Trp7,9]SP (10(-5) M). Current clamp recordings and intracellular recordings of intact tissues showed that NKA and SP depolarized the cell membrane, which is consistent with the activation of a nonselective cation conductance. These data suggest that a primary mechanism of the tachykinins is to activate a nonselective cation conductance that leads to depolarization. The increase in Ca2+ entry due to tachykinin stimulation appears to be secondary to the activation of the nonselective cation conductance.

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