Melanophores

FIGURE 2.11 Receptor-occupancy curves for activation of human calcitonin type 2 receptors by the agonist human calcitonin. Ordinates (response as a fraction of the maximal response to human calcitonin). Abscissae (fractional receptor occupancy by human calcitonin). Curves shown for receptors transfected into three cell types human embryonic kidney cells (HEK), Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO), and Xenopus laevis melanophores. It can be seen that the different cell types lead to differing amplification factors for the conversion from agonist receptor occupancy to tissue response. 

FIGURE 3.11 Constitutive activity in melanophores expressing hCTR2 receptor, (a) Basal melanophore activity, (b) Effect of transfection with human cDNA for human calcitonin receptors (16 j-ig/ml). (c) Concentration response curve for cDNA for human calcitonin receptors (abscissae as log scale) and constitutive activity. Data redrawn from [27]. 

FIGURE 3.12 Dependence of constitutive receptor activity as ordinates (expressed as a percent of the maximal response to a full agonist for each receptor) versus magnitude of receptor expression (expressed as the amount of human cDNA used for transient transfection, logarithmic scale) in Xenopus laevis melanophores. Data shown for human chemokine CCR5 receptors (open circles), chemokine CXCR receptors (filled triangles), neuropeptide Y type 1 receptors (filled diamonds), neuropeptide Y type 2 receptors (open squares), and neuropeptide Y type 4 receptors (open inverted triangles). Data recalculated and redrawn from [27],... 

FIGURE 5.6 Calcitonin receptor responses, (a) Real-time melanin dispersion (reduced light transmittance) caused by agonist activation (with human calcitonin) of transfected human calcitonin receptors type II in melanophores. Responses to 0.1 nM (filled circles) and lOnM (open circles) human calcitonin, (c) Dose-response curves to calcitonin in melanophores (open circles) and HEK 293 cells, indicating calcium transient responses (filled circles). 

The first idea to consider is the effect of receptor density on sensitivity of a functional system to agonists. Clearly, if quanta of stimulus are delivered to the stimulus-response mechanism of a cell per activated receptor the amount of the total stimulus will be directly proportional to the number of receptors activated. Figure 5.8 shows Gi-protein-mediated responses of melanophores transiently transfected with cDNA for human neuropeptide Y-l receptors. As can be seen from this figure, increasing receptor expression (transfection with increasing concentrations of receptor cDNA) causes an increased potency and maximal response to the neuropeptide Y agonist PYY. 

FIGURE 5.10 Effects of co-expressed G-protein (G ) on neuropeptide NPY4 receptor responses (NPY-4). (a) Dose-response curves for NPY-4. Ordinates Xenopus laevis melanophore responses (increases light transmission). Ordinates logarithms of molar concentrations of neuropeptide Y peptide agonist PYY. Curves obtained after no co-transfection (labeled 0 jig) and co-transfection with cDNA for Gai6. Numbers next to the curves indicate jig of cDNA of Ga]g used for co-transfection, (b) Maximal response to neuropeptide Y (filled circles) and constitutive activity (open circles) as a function of pg cDNA of co-transfected G g. 

FIGURE 11.2 Paired experimental data. Values of constitutive calcitonin receptor activity [1 -(Tr/Tj) units] in transiently transfected melanophores. Five separate experiments are shown. Points to the left indicate the basal level of constitutive activity before (filled circles) and after (open circles) addition of 100 nM AC512 (calcitonin receptor inverse agonist). Lines join values for each individual experiment. Points to the right are the mean values for constitutive activity in control (filled circles) and after AC512 (open circles) for all five experiments (bars represent standard errors of the mean). Data shown in Table 11.3. 

FIGURE 11.3 One-way ANOVA (analysis of variance). One-way analysis of variance of basal rates of metabolism in melanophores (as measured by spontaneous dispersion of pigment due to G,.-protein activation) for four experiments. Cells were transiently transfected with cDNA for human calcitonin receptor (8 j-ig/ml) on four separate occasions to induce constitutive receptor activity. The means of the four basal readings for the cells for each experiment (see Table 11.4) are shown in the histogram (with standard errors). The one-way analysis of variance is used to determine whether there is a significant effect of test occasion (any one of the four experiments is different with respect to level of constitutive activity). 

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The dendrites of a melanocyte contact about 36 keratinocytes and are able to transfer melanosomes to these adjacent cells. The numbers and sizes of the melanosomes as well as melanin structure determine differences in skin color.131 Similar cells in amphibians, the melanophores, also contain light receptors p Their melanosomes are not transferred to other cells but may be either clustered near the center of the cell or dispersed. The location can be changed quickly by transport of the melanosomes along a network of microtubules allowing the animals to change in response to changes in light color.0)... 

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