The Ca2+ content of glial tumor (C6) cells was reduced approximately 5-fold by repeated treatment with media containing ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether) N,N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) without loss of cellular viability. The ability of the cells to accumulate cAMP in response to beta-adrenergic agonists was reduced 60 to 70% following Ca2+ depletion. Ca2+ did not affect the apparent KACT...

Presynaptic Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels triggers neurotransmitter release. Action potential duration plays a determinant role in the dynamics of presynaptic Ca2+ influx. In this study, the presynaptic Ca2+ influx was optically measured with a low-affinity Ca2+ indicator (Furaptra). The effect of action potential duration on Ca2+ influx and transmitter release was investi...

In contrast to cardiomyocytes, store overload-induced calcium ion (Ca2+) release (SOICR) is not considered to constitute a primary Ca2+ releasing system from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in skeletal muscle myocytes. In the latter, voltage-induced Ca2+ release (VICR) is regarded as the dominant mechanism facilitating contractions. Any role of the SOICR in the regulation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ co...

Reactive oxygen species and related oxidative damage have been implicated in the initiation of acute pancreatitis, a disease characterised in its earliest stages by disruption of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. The present study was carried out in order to establish the effect of the organic pro-oxidant, tert-butylhydroperoxide (tBHP), on the mobilisation of intracellular Ca2+ stores in isolate...

The effect of perfusate [Ca2+] on the function of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (CSR) was assessed by the oxalate-supported Ca2' uptake rate of ventricular homogenates of isolated rat hearts maintained in a modified Langendorif preparation. The total Ca2' pumping activity of the CSR was determined by using 20 FM ruthenium red or 625 j±M ryanodine to close the CSR Ca2+ release channel. The homo...

Intracellular Ca2+ release activated by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) plays a pivotal role in Ca2+ signaling in cells. A controlling mechanism for InsP3-induced Ca2+ movements is suggested by results showing that the InsP3-releasable Ca2+ pool is directly modified by a specific and sensitive GTP-regulated Ca2+-translocating process. By using saponin-permeabilized N1E-115 neuroblastoma ce...

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...

The luminal Ca2+ regulation of cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) was explored at the single channel level. The luminal Ca2+ and Mg2+ sensitivity of single CSQ2-stripped and CSQ2-associated RyR2 channels was defined. Action of wild-type CSQ2 and of two mutant CSQ2s (R33Q and L167H) was also compared. Two luminal Ca2+ regulatory mechanism(s) were identified. One is a RyR2-resident mechanism that ...

The role of calbindin-D28K, in transcellular Ca2+ transport and Ca2+ signaling in rabbit cortical collecting system was investigated. Rabbit kidney connecting tubules and cortical collecting ducts, hereafter referred to as cortical collecting system, were isolated by immunodissection and cultured to confluence on permeable filters and glass coverslips. Calbindin-D28K was present in the cytosol ...