Extracellular Osmotic Stress Reduces the Vesicle Size while Keeping a Constant Neurotransmitter Concentration
Journal article, 2017

Secretory cells respond to hypertonic stress by cell shrinking, which causes a reduction in exocytosis activity and the amount of signaling molecules released from single exocytosis events. These changes in exocytosis have been suggested to result from alterations in biophysical properties of cell cytoplasm and plasma membrane, based on the assumption that osmotic stress does not affect the secretory vesicle content and size prior to exocytosis. To further investigate whether vesicles in secretory cells are affected by the osmolality of the extracellular environment, we used intracellular electrochemical cytometry together with transmission electron microscopy imaging to quantify and determine the catecholamine concentration of dense core vesicles in situ before and after cell exposure to osmotic stress. In addition, single cell amperometry recordings of exocytosis at chromaffin cells were used to monitor the effect on exocytosis activity and quantal release when cells were exposed to osmotic stress. Here we show that hypertonic stress hampers exocytosis secretion after the first pool of readily releasable vesicles have been fused and that extracellular osmotic stress causes catecholamine filled vesicles to shrink, mainly by reducing the volume of the halo solution surrounding the protein matrix in dense core vesicles. In addition, the vesicles demonstrate the ability to perform adjustments in neurotransmitter content during shrinking, and intracellular amperometry measurements in situ suggest that vesicles reduce the catecholamine content to maintain a constant concentration within the vesicle compartment. Hence, the secretory vesicles in the cell cytoplasm are highly affected and respond to extracellular osmotic stress, which gives a new perspective to the cause of reduction in quantal size by these vesicles when undergoing exocytosis.

chromaffin cell

transmission electron microscopy

Osmotic stress

dense core vesicle

amperometry

vesicle size

exocytosis

catecholamine concentration

Author

Hoda Mashadi Fathali

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Johan Dunevall

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Soodabeh Majdi

University of Gothenburg

Ann-Sofie Cans

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

ACS Chemical Neuroscience

1948-7193 (eISSN)

Vol. 8 2 368-375

Subject Categories

Cell Biology

DOI

10.1021/acschemneuro.6b00350

More information

Latest update

2/21/2018