Functional characterization of a nonclassical nicotine receptor associated with inositolphospholipid breakdown and mobilization of intracellular calcium pools

Abstract

Classical nicotinic receptors are neurotransmitter-gated channels that, upon activation by acetylcholine, induce the opening of an intrinsic cationic channel. We have recently observed that, in frog pituitary melanotrophs, nicotine stimulates α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) release through a noncholinergic mechanism. In the study reported here, we investigated the intracellular events that mediate the response of frog melanotrophs to nicotine. Nicotine was capable of stimulating α-MSH release in the absence of Ca2+ and/or Na+ in the extracellular medium. A short pulse of nicotine induced a rapid and transient increase of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+](i)). The effect of nicotine on Ca2+ mobilization was not affected in the absence of Na+ and Ca2+ in the extracellular medium, indicating that the nicotine-evoked increase in [Ca2+](i) did not result from Na+ or Ca2+ influx. Nicotine induced both an increase in inositol trisphosphate and a reduction in phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate concentrations but did not affect cAMP production. The present results indicate that nicotine-induced stimulation of α-MSH release in frog melanotrophs can be explained by activation of inositolphospholipid breakdown and mobilization of inositol trisphosphate-dependent intracellular Ca2+ pools. These data provide evidence for the existence of an unusual type of noncholinergic nicotine receptor positively coupled to phospholipase C.