The neuropeptide CAP2b stimulates fluid transport obligatorily via calcium entry, nitric oxide, and cGMP in Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian (renal) tubules. We have shown by RT-PCR that the Drosophila L-type calcium channel alpha1-subunit genes Dmca1D and Dmca1A (nbA) are both expressed in tubules. CAP2b-stimulated fluid transport and cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) increases are i...

Calcium channel blockers, which alter the intracellular calcium concentration by modifying calcium flux across cell membranes and affect various intracellular signaling processes, have been long and widely used to treat essential hypertension and certain types of cardiac diseases such as angina pectoris. Among five subtypes of calcium channels, only specific agents for L-type calcium channels h...

Ca(V)2.2 (N-type) and Ca(V)1.2 (L-type) calcium channels gate differently in response to membrane depolarization, which is critical to the unique physiological functions mediated by these channels. We wondered if the source for these differences could be identified. As a first step, we examined the effect of domain exchange between N-type and L-type channels on activation-deactivation kinetics,...

The pharmacology of calcium channels involved in glutamatergic synaptic transmission from reticulospinal axons in the lamprey spinal cord was analyzed with specific agonists and antagonists of different high-voltage activated calcium channels. The N-type calcium channel blocker omega-conotoxin GVIA (omega-CgTx) induced a large decrease of the amplitude of reticulospinal-evoked excitatory postsy...

Voltage-gated calcium channels are required for many key functions in the body. In this review, the different subtypes of voltage-gated calcium channels are described and their physiologic roles and pharmacology are outlined. We describe the current uses of drugs interacting with the different calcium channel subtypes and subunits, as well as specific areas in which there is strong potential fo...

Taylor, James T., Luping Huang, Brian M. Keyser, Hean Zhuang, Craig W. Clarkson, and Ming Li. Role of high-voltage-activated calcium channels in glucose-regulated -cell calcium homeostasis and insulin release. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 289: E900–E908, 2005. First published June 14, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00101.2005.—Highvoltage-activated (HVA) calcium channels are known to be the primary...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated that atrial electrical remodeling was an important contributing factor for the occurrence, persistence and maintenance of atrial fibrillation. The expression changes of ionic channels, especially L-type calcium channel and potassium channel Kv4.3, were the important molecular mechanism of atrial electrical remodeling. This study aimed to observe the e...