Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Probing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function in Mouse Brain Slices via Laser Flash Photolysis of Photoactivatable Nicotine
Published on: January 25, 2019
Nicotinic acid affects cytoskeleton remodeling via increasing the activity of gelsolin
Xiang Su1, Haizhen Ni1, Wenxu Jin1
1Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Abstract:
Our previous research has demonstrated that nicotinic acid (NA) might suppress the angiogenesis by modulating the expression of angiogenesis factors and promoting the cytoskeleton remodeling. However, the underlying mechanism need to be further elucidated. The intracellular Ca2+ concentration was measured by a [Ca2+ ] detection kit. The F-actin depolymerization was shown by immunofluorescence staining. The protein levels of F-actin and G-actin were determined by Western blot. The effects of NA treatment on the gelsolin-PI3Kα (p110α) interaction were investigated by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP). NA treatment caused an initial drop and then induced a significant increase in [Ca2+ ] with a time and dose dependent manner. In addition, NA promoted the depolymerization of F-actin and knockdown of gelsolin substantially rescued the effects caused by NA treatment. NA treatment significantly inhibited the interaction between phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) α (p110α) and gelsolin and addition of phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-triphosphate (PIP3) increased the protein level of F-actin and rescued the F/G-actin ratio. In conclusion, our results indicated NA treatment could interfere with the ability of PI3Kα (p110α) to inhibit the activity of gelsolin by decomposing PIP2 to produce PIP3, thereby increasing the activity of gelsolin, which ultimately acted on the remodeling of the cytoskeleton and exerted an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis.
Related Concept Videos
Nucleosome Remodeling
Nucleosome remodeling complex
Eukaryotic cells have specialized enzymes called ATP-dependent nucleosome remodeling enzymes. These enzymes...
10:48Probing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function in Mouse Brain Slices via Laser Flash Photolysis of Photoactivatable Nicotine
10:14Biochemical Assays for Analyzing Activities of ATP-dependent Chromatin Remodeling Enzymes
06:52Kinetic Screening of Nuclease Activity using Nucleic Acid Probes
06:19Testing Nicotine Tolerance in Aphids Using an Artificial Diet Experiment
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...

