TY - JOUR T1 - Differential Activation of Guinea Pig Intrinsic Cardiac Neurons by the PAC1 Agonists Maxadilan and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide 27 (PACAP27) JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 197 LP - 203 DO - 10.1124/jpet.109.155747 VL - 331 IS - 1 AU - Donald B. Hoover AU - John D. Tompkins AU - Rodney L. Parsons Y1 - 2009/10/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/331/1/197.abstract N2 - Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) evokes tachycardia followed by a larger cholinergic bradycardia in isolated guinea pig hearts. We used the selective PAC1 receptor agonist maxadilan and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) to test the hypothesis that PACAP27-evoked tachycardia and bradycardia are mediated by VPAC and PAC1 receptors, respectively. Chronotropic actions of these peptides were evaluated in isolated perfused hearts. Direct neuronal actions were determined by intracellular voltage recordings from cholinergic neurons in atrial ganglion whole mounts. Administration of 1 nmol of PACAP27 to isolated hearts evoked typical biphasic rate responses, whereas 1 nmol of maxadilan caused only a minor rate decrease. Desensitization with VIP eliminated the positive chronotropic effect of PACAP27 selectively. Local application of PACAP27 to cardiac neurons frequently evoked slow depolarization and caused prolonged increase of neuronal excitability. Maxadilan rarely affected membrane potential but consistently increased excitability. VIP had no effect on excitability and evoked depolarization in only a few neurons. Because maxadilan increased neuronal excitability but did not trigger action potentials as PACAP often does, we evaluated the interaction of maxadilan with substance P (SP) in isolated hearts. SP depolarizes cardiac neurons more consistently than PACAP, often triggers neuronal action potentials, and causes bradycardia but does not increase neuronal excitability. Maxadilan had a persistent effect to augment negative chronotropic responses to SP. These findings support our hypothesis that PACAP evokes tachycardia and bradycardia through VPAC and PAC1 receptors, respectively. They also suggest that maxadilan and PACAP27 differ in activating PAC1 receptors on cardiac neurons and/or stimulating downstream signaling mechanisms. © 2009 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -