The Na+-Ca2+ exchanger current was measured in single guinea pig ventricular myocytes, using the whole-cell voltage-clamp technique, and intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+](i)) was monitored simultaneously with the fluorescent probe Indo-1 applied intracellularly through a perfused patch pipette. In external solutions, which have levels of Ca2+ (approximately 66 microM Ca2+) though...

The subfornical organ (SFO) is sensitive to both ANG II and ACh, and local application of these agents produces dipsogenic responses and vasopressin release. The present study examined the effects of cholinergic drugs, ANG II, and increased extracellular osmolarity on dissociated, cultured cells of the SFO that were retrogradely labeled from the supraoptic nucleus. The effects were measured as ...

The effect of sequential stimulation of different inositol (1,4,5)-trisphosphate (IP3)-linked receptors on the functioning of intracellular Ca2+ stores was evaluated in single LAN-1 human neuroblastoma cells by means of fura-2 microfluorimetry. Homologous restimulation both in the absence and in the presence of extracellular Ca2+ with endothelin-1 (ET-1), Lys-bradykinin (BK), and ATP did not el...

Cytolytic T cells use two mechanisms to kill virally infected cells, tumor cells, or other potentially autoreactive T cells in short-term in vitro assays. The perforin/granule exocytosis mechanism uses preformed cytolytic granules that are delivered to the target cell to induce apoptosis and eventual lysis. FasL/Fas (CD95 ligand/CD95)-mediated cytolysis requires de novo protein synthesis of Fas...

The high flux rate of Ca2+ through NMDA receptor (NMDAR) channels is critical for their biological function and may depend on a Ca2+ binding site in the extracellular vestibule. We screened substitutions of hydrophilic residues exposed in the vestibule and identified a cluster of charged residues and a proline, the DRPEER motif, positioned C terminal to M3, that is unique to the NR1 subunit. Ch...

Seale, A. P., N. H. Richman III, T. Hirano, I. Cooke, and E. G. Grau. Cell volume increase and extracellular Ca2 are needed for hyposmotically induced prolactin release in tilapia. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 284: C1280–C1289, 2003.. First published January 22, 2003; 10.1152/ajpcell. 00531.2002.—In the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), as in many euryhaline teleost fish, prolactin (PRL) plays a ...

Protein kinase C (PKC) potentiates NMDA receptors in hippocampal, trigeminal, and spinal neurons. Although PKC phosphorylates the NMDA receptor subunit NR1 at four residues within the C terminal splice cassette C1, the molecular mechanisms underlying PKC potentiation of NMDA responses are not yet known. The present study examined the role of Ca2+ in PKC potentiation of recombinant NMDA receptor...

Depletion of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores leads to the entry of extracellular Ca2+ into the cytoplasm, a process termed capacitative or store-operated Ca2+ entry. Partially purified extracts were prepared from the human Jurkat T lymphocyte cell line and yeast in which Ca2+ stores were depleted by chemical and genetic means, respectively. After microinjection into Xenopus laevis oocytes, th...

Exposure of neurones in culture to excitotoxic levels of glutamate results in an initial transient spike in [Ca2+]i followed by a delayed, irreversible [Ca2+]i rise governed by rapid kinetics, with Ca2+ originating from the extracellular medium. The molecular mechanism responsible for the secondary Ca2+ rise is unknown. Here, we report that the delayed Ca2+ entry in cortical neurones is diminis...

The cytosolic free calcium concentration, [Ca2+]i in phagocytic cells (e.g. neutrophils, human leukemic cell line HL-60) is an important determinant of cellular activity. In resting phagocytes [Ca2+]i is low (approximately 100 nM), but in response to occupation of cell surface receptors, it rises to micromolar levels, thereby activating a variety of cellular functions. The increases in [Ca2+]i ...