Résumé
Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is an extracellular signaling molecule acting on two major classes of membrane receptors, metabotropic P2Y receptors and ionotropic P2X receptors. In the central nervous system, P2X receptors are involved in diverse functions such as modulation of synaptic transmission or neuron-glia communication and are implicated in different pathologies including chronic pain, epilepsy or neurodegenerative diseases. Recording P2X receptor activity is difficult because of the paucity of pharmacological tools and because P2X receptors are prone to desensitization. In addition, measuring extracellular ATP concentration is challenging since the mechanisms and the source of ATP are still poorly characterized. In addition, classical ATP detecting approaches have clear spatial and temporal limitations. As a consequence, following P2X activity and visualizing or quantifying ATP release in real time remains challenging. To overcome these issues, we developed new fluorescent biosensors based on the fusion of the fluorescent calcium reporter GCaMP6s to P2X receptors.We first determined that fluorescence specifically reports on the activity of the P2X2 channel in different cell line (HEK, astrocytes, macrophages) and in primary culture of hippocampal neurons. We next engineered P2X2 receptor to create high affinity ATP biosensors. We identified two mutants with EC50s for ATP in the 100 nanomolar range that allow for the detection and the quantification of endogenous ATP release evoked by cell swelling. Using pharmacological approaches and knock-out cells, we demonstrated the implication in ATP release of the recently identify volume-regulated anion channel, LRRC8A in HEK cells and differentiated human macrophages. Finally, we provided evidence that the LRRC8-dependant ATP release is necessary for the cellular regulation of volume decrease after swelling.Our results show that these fluorescent ATP biosensors can be used to dynamically track P2X channel activity and can be used in vivo to decipher the molecular mechanisms involved in purinergic signaling.