Muscarinic receptors stimulate cell proliferation in the human urothelium-derived cell line UROtsa.

The widespread non-neuronal synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) has changed the paradigm of ACh acting solely as a neurotransmitter. Indeed, the presence of ACh in many types of proliferating cells suggests a role for this neurotransmitter in the control of cell division. The parasympathetic system is a major pathway regulating micturition, but ACh-mediated control plays a more complex role than previously described, acting not only in the detrusor muscle, but also influencing detrusor function through the activity of urothelial muscarinic receptors. Here we investigated the role of muscarinic receptors in mediating cell proliferation in the human UROtsa cell line, which is a widely used experimental model to study urothelium physiology and pathophysiology. Our results demonstrate that UROtsa cells express the machinery for ACh synthesis and that muscarinic receptors, with the rank order of M3>M2>M5>M1=M4, are present and functionally linked to their known second messengers. Indeed, the cholinergic receptor agonist carbachol (CCh) (1-100 µM) concentration-dependently raised IP(3) levels, reaching 66±5% over basal. The forskolin-mediated adenylyl cyclase activation was reduced by CCh exposure (forskolin: 1.4±0.14 pmol/ml; forskolin+100 µM CCh: 0.84±0.12 pmol/ml). CCh (1-100 µM) concentration-dependently increased UROtsa cell proliferation and this effect was inhibited by the non-selective antagonist atropine and the M(3)-selective antagonists darifenacin and J104129. Finally, CCh-induced cell proliferation was blocked by selective PI-3 kinase and ERK activation inhibitors, strongly suggesting that these intracellular pathways mediate, at least in part, the muscarinic receptor-mediated cell proliferation.

Prostaglandin D2 synthase/GPR44: a signaling axis in PNS myelination.

Neuregulin 1 type III is processed following regulated intramembrane proteolysis, which allows communication from the plasma membrane to the nucleus. We found that the intracellular domain of neuregulin 1 type III upregulated the prostaglandin D2 synthase (L-pgds, also known as Ptgds) gene, which, together with the G protein-coupled receptor Gpr44, forms a previously unknown pathway in PNS myelination. Neuronal L-PGDS is secreted and produces the PGD2 prostanoid, a ligand of Gpr44. We found that mice lacking L-PGDS were hypomyelinated. Consistent with this, specific inhibition of L-PGDS activity impaired in vitro myelination and caused myelin damage. Furthermore, in vivo ablation and in vitro knockdown of glial Gpr44 impaired myelination. Finally, we identified Nfatc4, a key transcription factor for myelination, as one of the downstream effectors of PGD2 activity in Schwann cells. Thus, L-PGDS and Gpr44 are previously unknown components of an axo-glial interaction that controls PNS myelination and possibly myelin maintenance.