Receptor-operated Ca²⁺ entry (ROCE) via transient receptor potential canonical channel 6 (TRPC6) is important machinery for an increase in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration triggered by the activation of G(q) protein-coupled receptors. TRPC6 is phosphorylated by various protein kinases including protein kinase A (PKA). However, the regulation of TRPC6 activity by PKA is still controversial. The ...

In mammalian cells, Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransporter activity participates in regulation of ion and volume homeostasis. This makes NKCC indispensable for normal cell growth and proliferation. We recently reported the existence of two mechanisms that can regulate NKCC activity in mature skeletal muscle. In isosmotic conditions, signaling through ERK MAPK pathway is necessary, while inhibition of th...

Rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are known to be involved in the GPCR signal transduction system and regulate many essential physiological processes in organisms. This study, for the first time, revealed that knockdown of the rhodopsin-like GPCR gene in resistant mosquitoes resulted in a reduction of mosquitoes' resistance to permethrin, simultaneously reducing the expression ...

Synaptosomal protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) is important for Ca(2+)-dependent fusion of large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) in insulin-secreting cells. Exocytosis is further enhanced by cAMP-increasing agents such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and this augmentation includes interaction with both PKA and cAMP-GEFII. To investigate the coupling between SNAP-25- and cAMP-dependent stimulation of ...

Pancreatic β-cells are highly responsive to changes in glucose, but the mechanisms involved are only partially understood. There is increasing evidence that the β-catenin signalling pathway plays an important role in regulating β-cell function, but the mechanisms regulating β-catenin signalling in these cells is not well understood. In the present study we show that β-catenin levels and downstr...

The cAMP signal transduction pathway controls many processes in fungi. The pkaR gene, encoding the regulatory subunit (PKA-R) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), was cloned from the industrially important filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. To investigate the involvement of PKA in morphology of A. niger, a set of transformants which overexpressed pkaR or pkaC (encoding the catalytic subun...

Chemical stimulation of white adipose tissue (WAT) causes adipose afferent reflex (AAR) and sympathetic activation. This study is to investigate the effects of AAR on lipolysis and the mechanisms of attenuated lipolysis response to enhanced AAR in obesity. Obesity was caused by high-fat diet for 12 weeks in rats. AAR was induced by injection of capsaicin into inguinal WAT or electrical stimulat...

beta-Adrenergic receptor (betaAR) activation and/or increases in cAMP regulate growth and proliferation of a variety of cells and, in some cells, promote cell death. In the current studies we addressed the mechanism of this growth reduction by examining betaAR-mediated effects in the murine T-lymphoma cell line S49. Wild-type S49 cells, derived from immature thymocytes (CD4(+)/CD8(+)) undergo g...

We report that the functional interaction between cyclin D1 and the estrogen receptor (ER) is regulated by a signal transduction pathway involving the second messenger, cyclic AMP (cAMP). The cell-permeable cAMP analogue 8-bromo-cAMP caused a concentration-dependent enhancement of cyclin D1-ER complex formation, as judged both by coimmunoprecipitation and mammalian two-hybrid analysis. This eff...

Our objective was to investigate the mechanisms by which the endogenous CRHR2 in white adipose tissue (WAT) regulates metabolic activities associated with lipogenesis and lipolysis under continuous exposure to hypoxia. We found that hypobaric hypoxia at a simulated altitude of 5000 m significantly reduced the body weight, food intake, and WAT mass of rats. Hypoxia also accelerated lipolysis and...