Membrane currents activated by bradykinin (500 nM) and by extracellular ATP (50 microM) were studied in voltage-clamped, NGF-treated rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Under quasiphysiological ionic conditions, both substances caused an outward current due to opening of Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels. Bradykinin caused an additional inward current that could be studied after blockade by internal ...

This study was carried out to identify the cellular component activating the histamine-stimulated Ca2+ entry in vas-deferens-derived DDT1 MF-2 cells. H1-histaminoceptor stimulation resulted in a rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, caused by Ca2+ release from inositol phosphate-sensitive Ca2+ stores and Ca2+ entry from the extracellular space, accompanied by a transient Ca(2+)-activated ou...

Inter- and extracellular-mediated changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) can ensure coordinated tissue function in the lung. Cultured rat alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) have been shown to respond to secretagogues with increases in [Ca2+]i and have been shown to be gap junctionally coupled. However, communication of [Ca2+]i changes in AECs is not well defined. Monolayers of AECs...

We assessed the roles of the protein kinase C (PKC) and the tyrosine kinase (TK) signaling pathways in regulating capacitative calcium entry (CCE) in human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and investigated the effects of intravenous anesthetics (midazolam, propofol, thiopental, ketamine, etomidate, morphine, and fentanyl) on CCE in human PASMCs. Fura-2-loaded human PASMCs were plac...

Removing extracellular Na+ (Na+o) evoked a large increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i in human skin fibroblasts. Decreasing [Na+]o from 120 to 14 mM caused the half-maximal peak increase in [Ca2+]i. Removing Na+o strongly stimulated 45Ca2+ efflux and decreased total cell Ca2+ by about 40%. Bradykinin caused changes in [Ca2+]i, total Ca2+, and 45Ca2+ fluxes similar to those evo...

Extracellular ATP is known to augment cardiac contractility by increasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in cardiomyocytes; however, the status of ATP-mediated Ca2+ mobilization in hearts undergoing ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) has not been examined previously. In this study, therefore, isolated rat hearts were subjected to 10-30 min of global ischemia and 30 min of reperfusion, and t...

1. Monitoring of [Ca2+]i and vasopressin secretion in isolated nerve endings from the rat neurohypophysis were studied to determine the relationship between the time course of vasopressin secretion and depolarization-induced changes in [Ca2+]i. 2. Membrane depolarization by increasing the extracellular [K+] led to concentration-dependent, parallel increases in the amount of vasopressin release ...

Synchronous neural activity causes rapid changes of extracellular pH (pH(e)) in the nervous system. In the CA1 region of the hippocampus, stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals elicits an alkaline pH(e) transient in stratum radiatum that is limited by extracellular carbonic anhydrase (ECA). When interstitial buffering is diminished by inhibition of ECA, the alkalosis is enhanced and NMDA recep...

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) requires influx of extracellular Ca2+ in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). To determine whether capacitative Ca2+ entry (CCE) through store-operated Ca2+ channels (SOCCs) contributes to this influx, we used fluorescent microscopy and the Ca2+-sensitive dye fura-2 to measure effects of 4% O2 on intracellular [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i) and CCE in prim...

Although abnormalities in calcium regulation have been implicated in the development of most forms of cataract, the mechanisms by which Ca2+ is regulated in the cells of the ocular lens remain poorly defined. Cell-to-cell Ca2+ signaling was investigated in primary cultures of ovine epithelial cells using the Ca(2+)-reporter dye fura-2 and fluorescence microscopy. Mechanical stimulation of a sin...