DUAL EFFECT OF THROMBIN ON VOLTAGE-DEPENDENT CA2+ CHANNELS OF PORTAL-VEIN SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS

Thrombin induces a number of physiological responses in several types of cells. To determine the action of thrombin in the vein, the electrophysiological and mechanical effects of thrombin were studied in rat portal vein smooth muscle cells. Ca2+ channel currents were recorded using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Thrombin had both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on the Ca2+ channel current. The inhibitory effect was reversed on washout of thrombin, whereas the stimulatory effect was maintained after thrombin was removed. Thrombin (1 unit/ml) produced a reversible decrease of 27.3+/-3.3% (n=12) in the current amplitude and a sustained increase of 71.2+/-12.9% (n=20). The thrombin-induced inhibition of Ca2+ channel current was blocked by the thrombin inhibitor hirudin and by the protease inhibitor leupeptin. The stimulatory effect of thrombin was inhibited by hirudin, by intracellular application of guanosine 5'-O-(beta-thio)diphosphate, and by antiphosphatidylinositide antibodies but not by pertussis toxin. The thrombin-induced enhancement of the Ca2+ channel current amplitude was not observed when the current was previously stimulated by phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. This suggests that the inhibitory effect of thrombin was related to its proteolytic activity and that the stimulatory effect involved activation of a pertussis toxin-insensitive GTP-binding protein, phosphatidylinositide hydrolysis, and protein kinase C activation. Both thrombin effects occurred in the same concentration range (0.001-10 units/ml). The thrombin-induced contraction of portal vein strips was completely inhibited by isradipine, and thrombin did not produce an increase in cytosolic [Ca2+], measured by indo-1 fluorescence in cells clamped at -50 mV, sufficient to activate Ca2+-dependent chloride current. Thus, the effects of thrombin in portal vein smooth muscle are mainly dependent on Ca2+ entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels.