Monitoring the Effect of Osmotic Stress on Secretory Vesicles and Exocytosis

Summary

Osmotic stress affects exocytosis and the amount of neurotransmitter released during this process. We demonstrate how combining electrochemical methods together with transmission electron microscopy can be used to study the effect of extracellular osmotic pressure on exocytosis activity, vesicle quantal size, and the amount of neurotransmitter released during exocytosis.

Abstract

Amperometry recording of cells subjected to osmotic shock show that secretory cells respond to this physical stress by reducing the exocytosis activity and the amount of neurotransmitter released from vesicles in single exocytosis events. It has been suggested that the reduction in neurotransmitters expelled is due to alterations in membrane biophysical properties when cells shrink in response to osmotic stress and with assumptions made that secretory vesicles in the cell cytoplasm are not affected by extracellular osmotic stress. Amperometry recording of exocytosis monitors what is released from cells the moment a vesicle fuses with the plasma membrane, but does not provide information on the vesicle content before the vesicle fusion is triggered. Therefore, by combining amperometry recording with other complementary analytical methods that are capable of characterizing the secretory vesicles before exocytosis at cells is triggered offers a broader overview for examining how secretory vesicles and the exocytosis process are affected by osmotic shock. We here describe how complementing amperometry recording with intracellular electrochemical cytometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging can be used to characterize alterations in secretory vesicles size and neurotransmitter content at chromaffin cells in relation to exocytosis activity before and after exposure to osmotic stress. By linking the quantitative information gained from experiments using all three analytical methods, conclusions were previously made that secretory vesicles respond to extracellular osmotic stress by shrinking in size and reducing the vesicle quantal size to maintain a constant vesicle neurotransmitter concentration. Hence, this gives some clarification regarding why vesicles, in response to osmotic stress, reduce the amount neurotransmitters released during exocytosis release. The amperometric recordings here indicate this is a reversible process and that vesicle after osmotic shock are refilled with neurotransmitters when placed cells are reverted into an isotonic environment.

Introduction

Chromaffin cells in adrenal glands are neuroendocrine cells that release neurotransmitter molecules into the blood stream. This occurs through a cellular process that involves the docking and fusion of neurotransmitter-filled vesicles, resulting in content release from vesicles to the extracellular space in a process called exocytosis. The neurotransmitters (adrenaline and noradrenaline) in chromaffin cells are actively transported by membrane proteins into large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) and stored at high concentrations (~0.5-1 M)^1,2. Accumulation of neurotransmitters inside the LDCVs is accomplished by th....

Protocol

1. Cell Culture of Bovine Chromaffin Cells Isolated by Enzymatic Digestion from Adrenal Glands

1. To isolate chromaffin cells collected from bovine adrenal glands, sterilize cells with 70% ethanol solution. Trim away fat and connective tissue using a scalpel. To remove blood, rinse the adrenal veins using Locke's solution (NaCl 154 mM, KCl 5.6 mM, NaHCO3 3.6 mM, hydroxyethyl piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) 5.6 mM at pH 7.4) that has been thermostated to 37 °C.
2. To digest the tissue, inflate each gland by injecting approximately 2.5 mL of warm sterile-filtered 0.2% collagenase P solution through the adrenal vein using a syringe and incu....

Results

We here describe the protocol for how combining TEM imaging together with two electrochemical methodologies, carbon fiber amperometry and intracellular electrochemical cytometry, can provide information that gains a broader view alluding to the effect of extracellular osmotic pressure on secretory vesicles and the exocytosis process. By comparing representative amperometric recordings of exocytosis release at single chromaffin cells using the experimental set up (shown in Figure 1), a signif.......

Discussion

We here present a protocol and the advantages of combining three complementary analytical methods to analyze secretory vesicles and the exocytosis process to gain a better understanding of how a physical force such as osmotic pressure can affect secretory vesicles and the exocytosis process in secretory cells. These methods include carbon fiber microelectrode amperometry, which is an established method for recording exocytosis activity, intracellular electrochemical cytometry, which is used to determine quantal size of v.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
NaCl	Sigma Aldrich	S7653
KCl	Sigma Aldrich	P9333
NaHCO3	Sigma Aldrich	S5761
HEPES	Sigma Aldrich	H3375
MgCl2	Sigma Aldrich	M-2670
Glucose	Sigma Aldrich	G8270
Collagenase P	Roche, Sweden	11 213 857 001
100-µM Nylon mesh	Fisher Sientific	08-771-19
Percoll	Sigma Aldrich	P1677
Collagen IV coated 60 mm plastic dish	VWR	354416
Centrifuge	Avanti J-20XP
Borosilicate glass capillary	Sutter instrument Co., Novato, CA
Micropipette puller	Narishing Inc., Japan	PE-21
Epoxy solutions (A and B)	Epoxy technology, Billerica, MA
Beveller	Narishing Inc.	EG-400
Inverted Microscope	Olympus	IX81
Patch clamp Instrument	Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA	Axopatch 200B
Micromanipulator	Burleigh Instrument Inc., USA	PCS-5000
Butane Flame	Multiflame AB, Hässelholm, Sweden
Transmission electron microscopy	Omega	Leo 912 AB