The distal convoluted tubule plays a significant role in renal magnesium conservation. Although the cells of the distal convoluted tubule possess the vitamin D receptor, little is known about the effects of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] on magnesium transport. In this study, we examined the effect of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) on distal cellular magnesium uptake and the modulation of this...

Magnesium (Mg2+) has been shown to reduce the physiological and biochemical stress in plants caused by heavy metals. To date our understanding of how Mg2+ ameliorates the adverse effects of heavy metals in plants is scarce. The potential effect of Mg2+ on lead (Pb2+) toxicity in plants has not yet been studied. This study was designed to clarify the mechanism of Mg2+-induced alleviation of lead...

Ca2+ binding to the wild type recombinant oncomodulin was studied by equilibrium flow dialysis in the absence and presence of 1, 2, and 10 mM Mg2+. Direct Mg2(+)-binding experiments were carried out by the Hummel-Dryer gel filtration technique. These studies revealed that in the absence of Mg2+ oncomodulin binds two Ca2+ with KCa = 2.2 x 10(7) and 1.7 x 10(6) M-1, respectively. In the absence o...

Reverse Watson-Crick G:C basepairs (G:C W:W Trans) occur frequently in different functional RNAs. This is one of the few basepairs whose gas-phase-optimized isolated geometry is inconsistent with the corresponding experimental geometry. Several earlier studies indicate that through post-transcriptional modification, direct protonation, or coordination with Mg2+, accumulation of positive charge ...

Recombinases are known to play an important role in the homology search and strand exchange during meiosis as well as homologous recombination (HR)-mediated DNA repair specifically require Mg2+ ion for their activity. The Ca2+ has been shown to stimulate the strand exchange activity of hDmc1 and ScDmc1 by forming the extended filaments on DNA. Oryza sativa disrupted meiotic cDNA1A (OsDmc1A), a ...

BK channels are activated by physiological concentrations of intracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+ in a variety of cells. Previous studies have identified two sites important for high-affinity Ca2+ sensing between [Ca2+]i of 0.1-100 microM and a site important for Mg2+ sensing between [Mg2+]i of 0.1-10 mM. BK channels can be also activated by Ca2+ and Mg2+ at concentrations>10 mM so that the steady-state...

Single fibers of the frog glossopharyngeal nerve respond to MgCl2 at concentrations exceeding 10 mM. NiCl2 at 1 mM enhanced the Mg2+ response. CaCl2 at 0.5-2 mM induced an inhibition of the Ni(2+)-enhanced response to Mg2+ ions. A quantitative explanation for these results is provided by the hypothesis that Ni2+ ions secondarily affect a magnesium receptor (designated X*Mg) that is responsible ...

To test the hypothesis that abnormal platelet Ca2+ handling in essential hypertension results from cellular Mg2+ deficiency, cytosolic free Mg2+ concentration ([Mg2+]i) and Ca2+ metabolism were studied in mag-fura 2 and fura 2-loaded platelets from 30 essential hypertensive patients and 30 sex- and age-matched normotensive controls. Basal cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and intracel...

The Na+/Mg2+ exchanger SLC41A1 (A1), a key component of intracellular Mg homeostasis (IMH), is the major cellular Mg2+ efflux system, and its overexpression decreases [Mg2+]intracellular. IMH plays an important role in the regulation of many cellular processes, including cellular signaling. However, whether the overexpression of A1 and the consequent drop of [Mg2+]i impact on intracellular sign...

BACKGROUND Oral magnesium supplementation is commonly used to support a low magnesium diet. This investigation set out to determine whether magnesium in a cream could be absorbed transdermally in humans to improve magnesium status. METHODS AND FINDINGS In this single blind, parallel designed pilot study, n = 25 participants (aged 34.3+/-14.8y, height 171.5+/-11cm, weight 75.9 +/-14 Kg) were r...