Chemosensory signal transduction in paramecium

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition Vol. 130; no. 4S Suppl; p. 946S
• Main Authors: Van Houten, J L, Yang, W Q, Bergeron, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-04-2000
• Subjects: Animals; Binding Sites; Chemoreceptor Cells - drug effects; Chemoreceptor Cells - physiology; Cyclic AMP - metabolism; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases - metabolism; Drug Synergism; Enzyme Activation - physiology; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Glutamic Acid - pharmacology; Glutathione - pharmacology; Guanosine Monophosphate - pharmacology; Inosine Monophosphate - pharmacology; Osmolar Concentration; Paramecium tetraurelia - physiology; Receptors, Cell Surface; Signal Transduction - physiology
• ISSN: 0022-3166
• DOI: 10.1093/jn/130.4.946S

Paramecia are ciliated single-cell eukaryotic organisms that can respond to chemical cues in their environment. Glutamate is among those cues, which attract cells. We describe briefly here the following attributes of glutamate chemoresponse: 1) Cells are attracted to L-glutamate relative to KCl at high concentrations of glutamate. 2) There are at least two specific, relatively low affinity glutamate binding sites on the cell surface. Glutamate can be displaced from only one of the binding sites by inosine monophosphate (IMP), and quisqualate displaces glutamate from the second site, which is likely to be the glutamate receptor involved in attraction to glutamate. 3) IMP is a repellent and does not act synergistically with glutamate, whereas guanosine monophosphate (GMP) does. 4) Similarly, glutathione is an attractant, but glutamate and glutathione appear to use different transduction pathways. 5) Glutamate hyperpolarizes the cell. The ionic mechanism is not yet verified, but is likely to involve a K conductance. 6) Glutamate induces a rapid and robust increase in cAMP in the cell. Protein kinase A (PKA) is possibly involved in the transduction pathway because kinase inhibitors such as H7 and H8 inhibit glutamate response, but do not affect responses to other attractants, such as acetate and ammonium. Activation of PKA by the rapid rise in cAMP may sustain the hyperpolarization phosphorylation and activation of the plasma membrane calcium pump. 7) Candidate glutamate binding proteins are being identified among the cell surface proteins with the use of affinity chromatography.