Abstract

The Na +Ca 2+ exchange activity in synaptic plasma membranes is inhibited by very low concentrations of ethanol (<25 mM). The high affinity Mg 2+- and ATP-dependent Ca 2+ transport in highly purified synaptic membranes is much less sensitive to inhibition by ethanol, with no statistically significant inhibition observed until an ethanol concentration of nearly 800 mM was used. Manipulations of the lipid environment designed to increase membrane fluidity enhanced the activity of the Na +Ca 2+ exchange system but inhibited the ATP-dependent Ca 2+ pump. The differential responses of the two synaptic plasma membrane Ca 2+ transporting systems to such modifications of membrane structure suggest that these two ion transport processes differ in the extent to which their activity is dependent on the lipid microenvironment in which they reside. Thus, the effects of ethanol on the Na +Ca 2+ antiporter may represent a fairly selective inhibitory process.

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