The varanid lizard possesses one of the largest aerobic capacities among reptiles with maximum rates of oxygen consumption that are twice that of other lizards of comparable sizes at the same temperature. To support this aerobic capacity, the varanid heart possesses morphological adaptations that allow the generation of high heart rates and blood pressures. Specializations in excitation-contrac...

Although the Na(+)/K(+) pump is one of the key mechanisms responsible for maintaining cell volume, we have observed experimentally that cell volume remained almost constant during 90 min exposure of guinea pig ventricular myocytes to ouabain. Simulation of this finding using a comprehensive cardiac cell model (Kyoto model incorporating Cl(-) and water fluxes) predicted roles for the plasma memb...

Ion transport and regulation were studied in two, alternatively spliced isoforms of the Na 1 -Ca 2 1 exchanger from Drosophila melanogaster . These exchangers, designated CALX1.1 and CALX1.2, differ by five amino acids in a region where alternative splicing also occurs in the mammalian Na 1 -Ca 2 1 exchanger, NCX1. The CALX isoforms were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and characterized ele...

In order to accurately model soil reclamation with concentrated electrolytes such as CaCl2 or sea water, it must be determined if there is an effect of salinity on the Na-Ca exchange selectivity. A new procedure for determining Na-Ca selectivity in calcareous and gypsiferous soils was used to study the effects of ionic strength and mineralogy on Na-Ca exchange. Four specimen clay minerals and t...

Because intracellular [Na(+)] is kept low by Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, Na(+) dependence is generally considered a property of extracellular enzymes. However, we found that p94/calpain 3, a skeletal-muscle-specific member of the Ca(2+)-activated intracellular "modulator proteases" that is responsible for a limb-girdle muscular dystrophy ("calpainopathy"), underwent Na(+)-dependent, but not Cs(+)-depend...

Axons freshly dissected from living specimens of the tropical squid Dorytheutis plei have a calcium content of 68 tzmol/kg of axoplasm. Fibers stimulated at 100 impuises/s in 100 mM Ca seawater increase their Ca content by 150/zmol/ kg.min; axons placed in 3 Ca (choline) seawater increase their Ca content by 12 /zmol/kg.min. Axons loaded with 0.2-1.5 mmol Ca/kg of axoplasm extruded Ca with a ha...

We have used dialyzed squid axons to characterize the ouabain- and bumetanide-insensitive Na efflux components and their relation to the operation of the Na/Ca exchange mechanism. In axons dialyzed with solutions containing nearly physiological concentrations of K, Na, and Mg, three components of the Na efflux can be distinguished: Cai-activated, Cao-dependent Na efflux ("reverse" Na/Ca exchang...

The properties of capacitative Ca(2+) influx were studied using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in crypts isolated from rat distal colon. Store-operated cation influx was evoked by increasing the intracellular buffering capacity for Ca(2+) in the pipette solution; contamination by Cl(-) currents was reduced by the use of NMDG gluconate as the main electrolyte in the pipette solution. The p...