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Phosphorylation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in myotube‐cholinergic neuron cocultures
Author(s) -
Lanuza Maria A.,
Gizaw Rahel,
Viloria Alexa,
González Carmen M.,
Besalduch Núria,
Dunlap Veronica,
Tomàs Josep,
Nelson Phillip G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.20848
Subject(s) - acetylcholine receptor , phosphorylation , neuromuscular junction , protein kinase c , receptor , biology , tetrodotoxin , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , synapse , protein kinase a , biochemistry , chemistry , endocrinology , neuroscience
Acetylcholine receptor (AChR) stability in the postsynaptic membrane is affected by serine kinases. AChR are phosphorylated by protein kinase C (PKC) and PKA, and we have shown that activation of PKA and PKC have opposite effects on AChR stability and that this may play some role in the selective, activity‐dependent synapse loss that occurs during development of the neuromuscular junction. Myotube cultures with and without added spinal motor neurons were probed with immunoaffinity‐purified antibodies prepared against phosphorylated peptides with amino acid sequences from different AChR subunits. Different treatments activating PKC (phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate; PMA) or PKA (dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate; cAMP) or blocking electrical activity (tetrodotoxin; TTX) of the cocultures were chosen because of their known effects, direct or indirect, on receptor stability. We asked whether the phospho‐specific antibody staining in conjunction with α‐bungarotoxin (BTX) identification of AChR aggregates could provide a direct demonstration of changes in receptor phosphorylation produced by the treatments. We found that PMA treatment did increase phosphorylation of the delta subunit and cAMP increased phosphorylation of the epsilon subunit relative to total BTX labeling in muscle‐nerve cocultures, but not in muscle‐only cultures. Blockade of electrical activity with TTX increased the incidence of aggregates that showed no phospho‐epsilon staining. Myotube cultures grown in the absence of neurons did not show the responses of myotubes in cocultures. The results show that manipulations that alter receptor stability also produce changes in receptor phosphorylation. We suggest that phosphorylation may be a mechanism mediating the changes in receptor stability. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.