Hearing relies on faithful sound coding at hair cell ribbon synapses, which use Ca2+-triggered glutamate release to signal with submillisecond precision. Here, we investigated stimulus-secretion coupling at mammalian inner hair cell (IHC) synapses to explore the mechanisms underlying this high temporal fidelity. Using nonstationary fluctuation analysis on Ca2+ tail currents, we estimate that IH...

Ca2+ influx through skeletal muscle Ca2+ channels and the force of contraction are increased in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation and high-frequency electrical stimulation. These effects are thought to be mediated by cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of the skeletal muscle Ca2+ channel. Modulation of the cloned skeletal muscle Ca2+ channel by cAMP-dependent phosphorylation and by depolarizin...

Although there is substantial evidence of abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis in heart cells of the cardiomyopathic Syrian hamster (Bio 14.6 strain), the mechanism by which these myocytes become Ca(2+)-overloaded is not known. To elucidate the role of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels in the pathogenesis of myopathy, whole-cell Ca2+ currents were measured in myopathic and normal control cardiac myocytes. T...

Elevated intracellular Ca2+ triggers inactivation of L-type calcium channels, providing negative Ca2+ feedback in many cells. Ca2+ binding to the main alpha1c channel subunit has been widely proposed to initiate such Ca2+ -dependent inactivation. Here, we find that overexpression of mutant, Ca2+ -insensitive calmodulin (CaM) ablates Ca2+ -dependent inactivation in a "dominant-negative" manner. ...

The patch-clamp technique is used to investigate divalent ion block of the large-conductance K+ channel from Chara australis. Block by Ba2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Pt(NH3)4(2+) from the vacuolar and cytoplasmic sides is used to probe the structure of, and ion interactions within, the pore. Five divalent ion binding sites are detected. Vacuolar Ca2+ reduces channel conductance by binding to a site loca...

Voltage-gated, Ca2+ release channels have been characterized at the vacuolar membrane of broad bean guard cells using patch clamps of excised, inside-out membrane patches. The most prevalent Ca2+ release channel had a conductance of 27 pS over voltages negative of the reversal potential (Erev) (cytosol referenced to vacuole), with 5,10, or 20 mM Ca2+ as the charge carrier on the vacuolar side a...

Reactive oxygen intermediates and nitric oxide modulate the contractile function of skeletal muscle fibers, possibly via direct interaction with the Ca2+ release channel. Oxidants produce disulfide bonds between subunits of the Ca2+ release channel tetramer, and this is accompanied by an increase in channel activity. The sulfhydryl alkylating agent N-ethylmaleimide has three distinct effects on...

The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptor (InsP3R), a Ca2+-release channel localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, plays a critical role in generating complex cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals in many cell types. Three InsP3R isoforms are expressed in different subcellular locations, at variable relative levels with heteromultimer formation in different cell types. A proposed reason for this div...

t'a" channels from lipid and proteolipid fractions of oisplat in-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant cells were reconstituted and characterized in bilayer lipid membranes formed at the tips of patch-clamp micropipets. The characteristics of the Ca2* channels were typical for the endoplasmic reticulum membrane channel activity. They had a relatively large unit conductance and were modified by typi...