Background: Oocyte maturation is usually defined as the period of progression from the first to the second meiotic arrest and involves coordinated nuclear and cytoplasmic modification. Ca2+ signals are known as important regulators of oocyte maturation. Extracellular Ca2+ is important for first polar body formation, normal meiosis kinetics, and for preserving the chromosome and spindle configur...

The relationship between the concentration of cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) and secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) was investigated in isolated bovine parathyroid cells using the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator, quin 2. Increasing the concentration of extracellular Ca2+ from 0.5 to 2.0 mM caused a 3-fold increase in [Ca2+]i (from 183 +/- 4 to 568 +/- 21 nM) which was associated with a 2-4-fold d...

Individual unstimulated GH4C1 cells exhibited spontaneous dynamic fluctuations in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Either chelation of extracellular Ca2+ with EGTA or treatment with nifedipine inhibited spontaneous [Ca2+]i fluctuations, indicating that the [Ca2+]i profile was dependent on the entry of extracellular Ca2+ via voltage-operated Ca2+ channels (VOCC). Spontaneous [Ca2+]i ...

It is generally assumed that the functional consequences of stimulation with Ca2+ -mobilizing agonists are derived exclusively from the second messenger action of intracellular Ca2+, acting on targets inside the cells. However, during Ca2+ signaling events, Ca2+ moves in and out of the cell, causing changes not only in intracellular Ca2+, but also in local extracellular Ca2+. The fact that nume...

Changes in extracellular Ca2+ concentration were directly measured in the rat cerebellum, using an ion-selective micropipette. Extracellular K+ was measured simultaneously with a second ion-selective micropipette. The potential reference barrels of the ion electrodes also provided fast field and slow potentials. During repetitive stimulation of the parallel fiber--Purkinje cell cerebellar circu...

The hydrogen ion is an important factor in the alteration of vascular tone in pulmonary circulation. Endothelial cells modulate vascular tone by producing vasoactive substances such as prostacyclin (PGI2) through a process depending on intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). We studied the influence of CO2-related pH changes on [Ca2+]i and PGI2 production in human pulmonary artery endotheli...

Parathyroid hormone secretion is exquisitely sensitive to small changes in serum Ca2+ concentration, and these responses are transduced via the Ca2+-sensing receptor (CaR). We utilized heterologous expression in HEK-293 cells to determine the effects of small, physiologically relevant perturbations in extracellular Ca2+ on CaR signaling via phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C, using changes in...

To study the effects of κ-opioid receptor stimulation on intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis during extracellular acidosis, we determined the effects of κ-opioid receptor stimulation on [Ca2+]iresponses during extracellular acidosis in isolated single rat ventricular myocytes, by a spectrofluorometric method. U-50488H (10-30 μM), a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist, dose de...

Aspergillus fumigatus is an inhaled fungal pathogen of human lungs, the developmental growth of which is reliant upon Ca2+-mediated signalling. Ca2+ signalling has regulatory significance in all eukaryotic cells but how A. fumigatus uses intracellular Ca2+ signals to respond to stresses imposed by the mammalian lung is poorly understood. In this work, A. fumigatus strains derived from the clini...

Extracellular ATP causes an increase in the concentration of cytoplasmic free calcium ([Ca2+]i) in bovine pulmonary-artery endothelial (BPAE) cells that results in the synthesis and release of prostacyclin (PGI2), a potent vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation. We show here that PGI2 release in BPAE cells correlates with the concentration of the fully ionized form of extracellular A...