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CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR
Departments of Physiology (B.F.K.) and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (A.T.-N.), University College London, London, United Kingdom
Purinergic signaling was first recognized in the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) taenia coli, where relaxation of smooth muscle by nerve-released ATP may involve the activation of P2Y1 and P2Y11 receptors, and where transcripts for both genes have been found. A partial sequence for P2Y11 protein was identified; the full-length P2Y1 sequence has already been described. P2Y1 and P2Y11 proteins were localized by immunohistochemistry in smooth muscle cells. P2X2 and P2X3 proteins were also localized in motoneurons of the myenteric plexus.
β-Methylene-ATP (
βmeATP) and dibenzoyl-ATP (BzATP) evoked fast relaxations in the taenia, and they were inhibited by the P2Y1 receptor antagonist 2'-deoxy-N6-methyladenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate (MRS2179). However,
βmeATP and BzATP may stimulate neuronal P2X receptors to release ATP, which then acts on P2Y1 receptors. In accordance, fast relaxations evoked by
βmeATP and BzATP were inhibited by the P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptor antagonist 5-({[3-phenoxybenzyl][(1S)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthalenyl] amino} carbonyl)-1,2,4-benzene-tricarboxylic acid (A317491). When P2Y1, P2X3, and P2X2/3 receptors were blocked and adenosine was removed enzymatically,
βmeATP and BzATP evoked slow relaxations that were inhibited by Reactive Red. Fast and slow relaxations involve small and large conductance calcium-activated potassium channels; the latter are dependent on intracellular cyclic AMP levels, which altered the duration and amplitude of relaxations.
βmeATP and BzATP were confirmed as agonists, and Reactive Red as an antagonist, of human P2Y11 receptors. In summary, Gq-coupled P2Y1 receptors are involved mainly in fast relaxations, whereas Gqand Gs-coupled P2Y11 receptors are involved in both fast and slow relaxations. These P2Y receptor subtypes, plus neuronal P2X receptors, may explain the phenomenon of parasympathetic inhibition first described by Langley (1898).
Address correspondence to: Dr. Brian F. King, Department of Physiology (Hampstead Campus), Medical School, University College London, Rowland Hill St., London, NW3 2PF, UK. E-mail: b.king{at}medsch.ucl.ac.uk