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The goal of this work was to study the binding of ions to polymers and lipid bilayer membranes in aqueous solutions. In the first part of this work, the influence of various inorganic salts and polyelectrolytes on the structure of water was studied using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC). The heat of dilution of the salts was used as a scale of water structure making and breaking of the ions. The heats of dilution could be attributed to the Hofmeister Series. Following this, the binding of Ca2+ to poly(sodium acrylate) (NaPAA) was studied. ITC and a Ca2+ Ion Selective Electrode were used to measure the reaction enthalpy and binding isotherm. Binding of Ca2+ ions to PAA, was found to be highly endothermic and therefore solely driven by entropy. We then compared the binding of ions to the one-dimensional PAA polymer chain to the binding to lipid vesicles with the same functional groups. As for the polymer, Ca2+ binding was found to be endothermic. Binding of calcium to the lipid bilayer was found to be weaker than to the polymer. In the context of these experiments, it was shown that Ca2+ not only binds to charged but also to zwitterionic lipid vesicles. Finally, we studied the interaction of two salts, KCl and NaCl, to a neutral polymer gel, PNIPAAM, and to the ionic polymer PAA. Combining calorimetry and a potassium selective electrode we observed that the ions interact with both polymers, whether containing charges or not.
For the elucidation of the dynamics of signal transduction processes that are induced by cellular interactions, defined events along the signal transduction cascade and subsequent activation steps have to be analyzed and then also correlated with each other. This cannot be achieved by ensemble measurements because averaging biological data ignores the variability in timing and response patterns of individual cells and leads to highly blurred results. Instead, only a multi-parameter analysis at a single-cell level is able to exploit the information that is crucially needed for deducing the signaling pathways involved. The aim of this work was to develop a process line that allows the initiation of cell-cell or cell-particle interactions while at the same time the induced cellular reactions can be analyzed at various stages along the signal transduction cascade and correlated with each other. As this approach requires the gentle management of individually addressable cells, a dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based microfluidic system was employed that provides the manipulation of microscale objects with very high spatiotemporal precision and without the need of contacting the cell membrane. The system offers a high potential for automation and parallelization. This is essential for achieving a high level of robustness and reproducibility, which are key requirements in order to qualify this approach for a biomedical application. As an example process for intercellular communication, T cell activation has been chosen. The activation of the single T cells was triggered by contacting them individually with microbeads that were coated with antibodies directed against specific cell surface proteins, like the T cell receptor-associated kinase CD3 and the costimulatory molecule CD28 (CD; cluster of differentiation). The stimulation of the cells with the functionalized beads led to a rapid rise of their cytosolic Ca2+ concentration which was analyzed by a dual-wavelength ratiometric fluorescence measurement of the Ca2+-sensitive dye Fura-2. After Ca2+ imaging, the cells were isolated individually from the microfluidic system and cultivated further. Cell division and expression of the marker molecule CD69 as a late activation event of great significance were analyzed the following day and correlated with the previously recorded Ca2+ traces for each individual cell. It turned out such that the temporal profile of the Ca2+ traces between both activated and non-activated cells as well as dividing and non-dividing cells differed significantly. This shows that the pattern of Ca2+ signals in T cells can provide early information about a later reaction of the cell. As isolated cells are highly delicate objects, a precondition for these experiments was the successful adaptation of the system to maintain the vitality of single cells during and after manipulation. In this context, the influences of the microfluidic environment as well as the applied electric fields on the vitality of the cells and the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration as crucially important physiological parameters were thoroughly investigated. While a short-term DEP manipulation did not affect the vitality of the cells, they showed irregular Ca2+ transients upon exposure to the DEP field only. The rate and the strength of these Ca2+ signals depended on exposure time, electric field strength and field frequency. By minimizing their occurrence rate, experimental conditions were identified that caused the least interference with the physiology of the cell. The possibility to precisely control the exact time point of stimulus application, to simultaneously analyze short-term reactions and to correlate them with later events of the signal transduction cascade on the level of individual cells makes this approach unique among previously described applications and offers new possibilities to unravel the mechanisms underlying intercellular communication.
Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zum einen erste Oligospiro(thio)ketal (OS(T)K)-basierte Modellsysteme (molekulare Sonden) für abstandsabhängige Messungen mittels Förster-Resonanz-Energietransfer (FRET) und zum anderen Sensorfluorophore, basierend auf einem DBD-Fluorophor und BAPTA, zur Messung der intrazellulären Calcium-Konzentration dargestellt.
Für die Synthese von molekularen Sonden für abstandsabhängige Messungen wurden verschiedenste einfach- und doppelt-markierte OS(T)K-Stäbe entwickelt und spektroskopisch untersucht. Die OS(T)K-Stäbe, sogenannte molekulare Stäbe, dienten als starre Abstandshalter zwischen den Fluorophoren. Als Fluorophore wurden Derivate von 6,7-Dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (Donor) und Acyl-DBD (Akzeptor) verwendet, die zusammen ein FRET-Paar bilden. Die Fluorophore wurden so funktionalisiert, dass sie sowohl unbeweglich bzw. „starr“, als auch beweglich bzw. „flexibel“ an den OS(T)K-Stab gebunden werden konnten. Für die Synthese der OS(T)K-Stäbe wurden ebenfalls eine Reihe an unterschiedlich langen und kurzen Stabbausteinen synthetisiert. Auf diese Weise wurden eine Vielzahl an verschiedensten einfach- und doppelt-markierten OS(T)K-Stäben dargestellt, deren Fluorophore sowohl „starr“ als auch „flexibel“ gebunden sind. Die dargestellten Stäbe wurden in verschiedensten Lösungsmitteln spektroskopisch untersucht, um anschließend das Verhalten in Vesikel, die eine biomimetische Umgebung darstellen, zu beurteilen. Es wurde festgestellt, dass sich die Stäbe erfolgreich in die Vesikelmembran einlagerten und hohe FRET-Effizienzen aufweisen.
Des Weiteren wurde ein FRET-Paar dargestellt, das sich durch 2-Photonenabsorpion im NIR-Bereich anregen lässt. Es wurde in den lebenden Zellen mittels Fluoreszenzlebenszeitmikroskopie (FLIM) untersucht.
Zur Untersuchung von intrazellulärem Calcium wurden zwei verschiedene DBD-Fluorophore über einen kurzen Linker mit dem Calcium-Chelator BAPTA verknüpft. Die dargestellten Fluorophore wurden sowohl in vitro als auch in vivo auf ihre Calcium-Sensitivität überprüft. Mittels FLIM wurden in lebenden Zellen die Fluoreszenzlebenszeitverteilungen der Fluorophore nach Calcium-Konzentrationsänderungen detektiert.
Pannexin 1
(2022)
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is an active alveolar hypoxia-caused physiological response redirecting pulmonary blood flow from poorly ventilated areas to better oxygenated lung regions in order to optimize oxygen supply. However, the signaling pathways underlying this pulmonary vascular response remain an area under investigation. In the present study I investigated the functional relevance of Pannexin 1 (Panx1)-mediated ATP release in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension using murine isolated perfused lungs, chronic hypoxic mice, and pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell culture. In isolated mouse lungs, switch to hypoxic gas induced a marked increase in pulmonary artery pressure. Pharmacological inhibition of Panx1 using probenecid, Panx1 specific inhibitory peptide (10Panx1) or spironolactone as well as genetic deletion of Panx1 in smooth muscle cells diminished hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in isolated perfused mouse lungs. Fura-2 imaging revealed a reduced Ca2+ response to hypoxia in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells treated with spironolactone or 10Panx1. Although these findings suggested an important role of Panx1 in HPV, neither smooth muscle cell nor endothelial cell specific genetic deletion of Panx1 prevented the development of pulmonary hypertension in chronic hypoxic mice. Surprisingly, hypoxia did not induce ATP release and inhibition of purinergic receptors or ATP degradation by ATPase failed to decrease the pulmonary vasoconstriction response to hypoxia in isolated perfused mouse lungs. However, Panx1 antagonism as well as TRPV4 inhibition prevented the hypoxia-induced increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in an additive manner suggesting that Panx1 might modulate intracellular Ca2+ signaling independently of the ATP-P2-TRPV4 signaling axis. In line with this assumption, overexpression of Panx1 in HeLa cells increased intracellular Ca2+ concentrations in response to acute hypoxia. Conclusion: In this study I identifiy Panx1 as novel regulator of HPV.. Yet, the role of Panx1 was not attributable to the release of ATP and downstream P2 signaling pathways or activation of TRPV4 but rathter relates to a role of Panx1 as indirect or direct modulator of the Ca2+ response to hypoxia in PASMCs. Genetic deletion of Panx1 did not influence the development of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in mice.