Neuropeptide Y--a cotransmitter with noradrenaline and adenosine 5'-triphosphate in the sympathetic nerves of the mouse vas deferens? A biochemical, physiological and electropharmacological study.

UNLABELLED

A combination of biochemical, physiological and electropharmacological methods was employed to examine the occurrence of neuropeptide Y and the pre- and postjunctional effects of this peptide on sympathetic neuromuscular transmission in the mouse vas deferens. This tissue had a high content of neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactive material, suggesting a dense innervation by neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibres. Addition of neuropeptide Y at concentrations from 5 X 10(-9) to 5 X 10(-7) M induced both pre- and postjunctional effects in vitro. Neuropeptide Y per se induced a rise in the resting tension, and "instantly" potentiated the contractile effects of exogenous noradrenaline and of the stable adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) analogue, alpha,beta-methylene ATP. Neuropeptide Y reduced the secretion of [3H]noradrenaline evoked by electrical nerve stimulation, and selectively depressed the stimulus-evoked, but not the spontaneously occurring excitatory junction potentials in smooth muscle cells. Further, neuropeptide Y reduced the amplitudes of the twitch contractions evoked by electrical field stimulation with short stimulus trains at 10 Hz, and also (although to a smaller extent) the delayed contractile response to longer trains of nerve stimuli. The pre- and postjunctional effects of neuropeptide Y were not changed by alpha- or beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents, or by tachyphylaxis to the effects of ATP, or by the calcium channel blocker nifedipine.

IN CONCLUSION

sympathetic neuromuscular transmission in the mouse vas deferens may be mediated not only by noradrenaline and ATP, but also by neuropeptide Y.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)