Synergistic rise in Ca2+ produced by somatostatin and acetylcholine in ciliary body epithelial cells

The purpose of these experiments was to demonstrate the presence of somatostatin receptors on the nonpigmented epithelial cells of the rabbit ciliary body and their link with intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. Freshly excised rabbit ciliary processes and nonpigmented cell layer, explants were loaded with the fluorescent dye fura-2, and free-Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in the nonpigmented cells was measured with fluorescence ratio imaging. The cells were continuously perfused, and drugs were added to the perfusate. Somatostatin-14 (SS14, 0.1-1.0 microM) or acetylcholine (ACh, 10 microM) applied alone produced small increases in [Ca2+]i. However, SS14 (0.1 microM) in combination with ACh (10 microM) induced a massive increase in [Ca2+]i (25.7 +/- 3.3 times the baseline level, n = 28). The dose-response curve for SS14 (in the presence of 10 microM ACh) was sigmoidal with an EC50 of 3.9 nM and Hill coefficient of 2.5, indicating the requirement for multiple SS receptor activation. Somatostatin-28 could mimic the effect of SS14, although a much higher concentration was required. Shifting the SS14 dose-response curve to the right by about two-orders of magnitude resulted in a fit to the SS28 data. The response to ACh + SS14 could not be blocked by the alpha 2-adrenergic blocker yohimbine (Yoh, 10 microM) or the A1-specific adenosinergic antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX, 1 microM). Incubation of the tissue with pertussis toxin (PTx, 1 microgram ml-1) did not alter the response to ACh alone but eliminated the synergistic effect of somatostatin. We conclude that nonpigmented epithelial cells of the rabbit ciliary body possess a novel somatostatin receptor whose activation can synergistically potentiate the rise in [Ca2+]i produced by ACh. This potentiation appears to occur via a pertussis-toxin-sensitive pathway, perhaps through Gi.