Nicholas A Delamere

Nicholas A Delamere

Department Head, Physiology
Professor, Physiology
Professor, Ophthalmology
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-6425

Research Interest

Nicholas Delamere, Ph.D., studies how ocular pressure (pressure in the eye) is controlled and the way cells transport fluid, and seeks to find methods to regulate the mechanisms involved. His goal is to develop drugs that reduce intraocular pressure, thereby decreasing the severity of glaucoma and damage to the retina. His cataract research also offers a promising model for tissue preservation, which will delay the onset of cataracts. https://delamerelab.medicine.arizona.edu/

Publications

Goldman, A., Shahidullah, M., Goldman, D., Khailova, L., Watts, G., Delamere, N., & Dvorak, K. (2010). A novel mechanism of acid and bile acid-induced DNA damage involving Na+/H+ exchanger: implication for Barrett's oesophagus. Gut, 59(12), 1606-16.

Barrett's oesophagus is a premalignant disease associated with oesophageal adenocarcinoma. The major goal of this study was to determine the mechanism responsible for bile acid-induced alteration in intracellular pH (pH(i)) and its effect on DNA damage in cells derived from normal oesophagus (HET1A) or Barrett's oesophagus (CP-A).

Okafor, M., Tamiya, S., & Delamere, N. A. (2003). Sodium-calcium exchange influences the response to endothelin-1 in lens epithelium. Cell calcium, 34(3), 231-40.

Studies were conducted to examine the possible involvement of Na+-Ca2+ exchanger in determining the magnitude of the endothelin-1 (ET-1)-receptor-mediated calcium signal in porcine lens epithelial cells. Cytoplasmic calcium concentration was measured in primary cultured cells loaded with Fura-2. ET-1 (100 nM) caused cytoplasmic calcium to increase transiently to approximately 250 nM from a baseline of approximately 65 nM. The calcium increase decayed to a sustained plateau 35-45 nM above the baseline. Both the peak and plateau component of the ET-1 calcium response were abolished by PD145065, an ET receptor antagonist, and by cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) (10 microM). In calcium-free bathing solution, only the plateau was abolished. In the presence of ouabain, low-sodium bathing solution or bepridil, a sodium-calcium exchange inhibitor, peak height more than doubled. Bepridil also increased the peak height of the calcium response to ATP. The half-time for decay of the ET-1 and ATP calcium peak was increased several folds by bepridil, ouabain and low-sodium conditions. Measurements of ionomycin-releasable calcium suggested calcium store size was not increased in bepridil-treated cells. Taken together findings suggest inhibition of sodium-calcium exchange increases the magnitude of the receptor-initiated store-release phase of the ET-1 calcium signaling response as the result of impaired calcium clearance from the cytoplasm.

Delamere, N. A., & Duncan, G. (1979). The properties of bovine lens membranes measured by a conventional double-chamber method. The Journal of physiology, 295, 241-9.

1. When the bovine lens was mounted in a divided chamber, an asymmetry potential of 4.3 mV (anterior face positive) was measured across the lens and values of 0.48 and 0.60 were obtained for P(Na)/P(K) of the anterior and posterior faces respectively.2. The half-times for the depolarization of the anterior and posterior face potentials on increasing the external K concentration were 20 and 14 min respectively compared to less than 2 min for the corresponding change determined previously from the totally immersed lens.3. The electrical resistance of the anterior surface was significantly smaller than that of the posterior and both resistances were much smaller than the value previously obtained from the bovine lens immersed in solution.4. The K permeability of the anterior surface, measured by (42)K efflux experiments, was greater than the value for the posterior surface and both were again very much higher than the value obtained for the totally immersed lens.5. The discrepancies between the present double-chamber preparation and the data obtained previously can be explained if it is assumed that the capsule provides a short-circuit pathway between the chamber port and the lens membranes. As the capsule is thicker at the anterior face, the short circuit there would be greater and this may explain many previously observed ;asymmetry' properties for the lens.

Shahidullah, M., & Delamere, N. A. (2006). NO donors inhibit Na,K-ATPase activity by a protein kinase G-dependent mechanism in the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium of the porcine eye. British journal of pharmacology, 148(6), 871-80.

1. We developed a novel method to isolate nonpigmented epithelial (NPE) cells from porcine eyes in order to examine Na,K-ATPase responses to nitric oxide (NO) donors specifically in the epithelium. 2. Cells were treated with NO donors and other test compounds for 20 min prior to Na,K-ATPase activity measurement. 3. NO donors, sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 1 microM-1 mM), sodium azide (100 nM-1 microM) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (1 microM-1 mM) caused significant concentration-dependent inhibition of Na,K-ATPase activity. Detection of nitrite in the medium of L-arginine and SNP-treated NPE confirmed NO generation. 4. Concentration-dependent inhibition of Na,K-ATPase was also obtained by L-arginine (1-3 mM), a physiological precursor of NO and 8p-CPT-cGMP (1-100 microM), a cell permeable analog of cGMP. The L-arginine effect was abolished when the NO synthesizing enzyme, NO-synthase, was inhibited by L-NAME (100 microM). 5. The inhibitory effect of SNP or sodium azide on Na,K-ATPase activity was suppressed by soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) inhibitors, ODQ (10 microM) or methylene blue (10 microM). 6. The inhibitory effect of 8p-CPT-cGMP on Na,K-ATPase was abolished by protein kinase G (PKG) inhibitors, H-8 (1 microM) and H-9 (20 microM), but not by the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89 (100 nM). H-8 and H-9 partially suppressed the inhibitory effect of SNP on Na,K-ATPase. 7. Taken together the results indicate that Na,K-ATPase inhibition response to NO donors involves activation of sGC, generation of cGMP and activation of PKG. These findings suggest that Na,K-ATPase inhibition in NPE may contribute to the ability of NO donors to reduce aqueous humor secretion.

Delamere, N., Tamiya, S., Okafor, M. C., & Delamere, N. A. (2007). Purinergic agonists stimulate lens Na-K-ATPase-mediated transport via a Src tyrosine kinase-dependent pathway. American journal of physiology. Cell physiology, 293(2).

The Na-K-ATPase is vital for maintenance of lens transparency. Past studies using intact lens suggested the involvement of tyrosine kinases in short-term regulation of Na-K-ATPase. Furthermore, in vitro phosphorylation of a lens epithelial membrane preparation by Src family kinases (SFKs), a family of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, resulted in modification of Na-K-ATPase activity. Here, the effect of purinergic agonists, ATP and UTP, on Na-K-ATPase function and SFK activation was examined in the rabbit lens. Na-K-ATPase function was examined using two different approaches, measurement of ouabain-sensitive potassium ((86)Rb) uptake by the intact lens, and Na-K-ATPase activity in lens epithelial homogenates. ATP and UTP caused a significant increase in ouabain-sensitive potassium ((86)Rb) uptake. Na-K-ATPase activity was increased in the epithelium of lenses pretreated with ATP. Lenses treated with ATP or UTP displayed activation of SFKs as evidenced by increased Western blot band density of active SFK (phosphorylated at the active loop Y416) and decreased band density of inactive SFKs (phosphorylated at the COOH terminal). A single PY416-Src immunoreactive band at approximately 60 kDa was observed, suggesting not all Src family members are activated. Immunoprecipitation studies showed that band density of active Src, and to a lesser extent active Fyn, was significantly increased, while active Yes did not change. Preincubation of the lenses with SFK inhibitor PP2 abolished the ATP-induced increase in ouabain-sensitive potassium ((86)Rb) uptake. The results suggest selective activation of Src and/or Fyn is part of a signaling mechanism initiated by purinergic agonists that increases Na-K-ATPase-mediated transport in the organ-cultured lens.