Calcium Regulation In Cells Research Articles

Effects of Hyperthermia on Intracellular Calcium Regulation in Uterine Smooth Muscle Cells

It is known that maternal fever and antenatal infection may lead to abnormal labor. However, the cellular mechanisms by which fever and infection affect labor are poorly understood. Here we investigate the effects of temperature on uterine smooth muscle cell (UtSM) cell calcium regulation as representation of uterine contractility. UtSM were treated with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), at increasing temperatures (room temperature up to 390C). The aim of our study is to better understand the effects of both temperature and infection on underlying cellular mechanisms of abnormal labor.

Regulation of Cell Calcium and Role of Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPases.

The plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase (PMCA pump) is a member of the superfamily of P-type pumps. It has 10 transmembrane helices and 2 cytosolic loops, one of which contains the catalytic center. Its most distinctive feature is a C-terminal tail that contains most of the regulatory sites including that for calmodulin. The pump is also regulated by acidic phospholipids, kinases, a dimerization process, and numerous protein interactors. In mammals, four genes code for the four basic isoforms. Isoform complexity is increased by alternative splicing of primary transcripts. Pumps 2 and 3 are expressed preferentially in the nervous system. The pumps coexist with more powerful systems that clear Ca2+ from the bulk cytosol: their role is thus the regulation of Ca2+ in selected subplasma membrane microdomains, where a number of important Ca2+-dependent enzymes interact with them. Malfunctions of the pump lead to disease phenotypes that affect the nervous system preferentially.

The Plasma Membrane Ca2+ ATPase and the Plasma Membrane Sodium Calcium Exchanger Cooperate in the Regulation of Cell Calcium

Calcium is an ambivalent signal: it is essential for the correct functioning of cell life, but may also become dangerous to it. The plasma membrane Ca(2+) ATPase (PMCA) and the plasma membrane Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) are the two mechanisms responsible for Ca(2+) extrusion. The NCX has low Ca(2+) affinity but high capacity for Ca(2+) transport, whereas the PMCA has a high Ca(2+) affinity but low transport capacity for it. Thus, traditionally, the PMCA pump has been attributed a housekeeping role in maintaining cytosolic Ca(2+), and the NCX the dynamic role of counteracting large cytosolic Ca(2+) variations (especially in excitable cells). This view of the roles of the two Ca(2+) extrusion systems has been recently revised, as the specific functional properties of the numerous PMCA isoforms and splicing variants suggests that they may have evolved to cover both the basal Ca(2+) regulation (in the 100 nM range) and the Ca(2+) transients generated by cell stimulation (in the μM range).

Time course of alterations in pre- and post-synaptic chemoreceptor function during developmental hyperoxia

Postnatal hyperoxia exposure reduces the carotid body response to acute hypoxia and produces a long-lasting impairment of the ventilatory response to hypoxia. The present work investigated the time course of pre- and post-synaptic alterations following exposure to hyperoxia (Fl(O2) = 0.6) for 1, 3, 5, 8 and 14 days (d) starting at postnatal day 7 (P7) as compared to age-matched controls. Hyperoxia exposure for 1d enhanced the nerve response and glomus cell calcium response to acute hypoxia, but exposure for 3-5d caused a significant reduction in both. Hypoxia-induced catecholamine release and nerve conduction velocity were significantly decreased by 5d hyperoxia. We conclude that hyperoxia exerts pre-synaptic (glomus cell calcium and secretory responses) and post-synaptic (afferent nerve excitability) actions to initially enhance and then reduce the chemoreceptor response to acute hypoxia. The parallel changes in glomus cell calcium response and nerve response suggest causality between the two and that environmental hyperoxia can affect the coupling between acute hypoxia and glomus cell calcium regulation.

Expression of polycystin-1 enhances endoplasmic reticulum calcium uptake and decreases capacitative calcium entry in ATP-stimulated MDCK cells

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) types 1 and 2 arise as a consequence of mutations in the PKD1 or PKD2 genes, encoding polycystins-1 and -2. Because loss of function of either of the polycystins leads to a very similar phenotype and the two proteins are known to interact, polycystins-1 and -2 are probably active in the same pathway. The way in which loss of either polycystin leads to the development of ADPKD remains to be established, but disturbances of cell calcium regulation are likely to play an important role. Here, we demonstrate that polycystin-1, heterologously expressed in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, had a pronounced effect on intracellular calcium homeostasis. ATP-induced calcium responses in transfection control cells exhibited a double peak and relatively gradual return to baseline. By contrast, cells expressing heterologous polycystin-1 showed a brief, uniphasic peak and an accelerated rate of decay. Heterologously expressed polycystin-1 accelerated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium reuptake and inhibited capacitative calcium entry; we found no effect of the protein on mitochondrial calcium buffering or plasma membrane calcium extrusion. We therefore propose that polycystin-1 accelerated the decay of the cell calcium response to ATP by upregulation of ER calcium reuptake and consequent minimization of the stimulus for capacitative calcium entry. It is possible that cellular dedifferentiation, fluid secretion, and proliferation might therefore arise in ADPKD as a consequence of disturbances in cytoplasmic and ER calcium homeostasis and aberrant capacitative calcium entry.

Doxorubicin-induced cardiac mitochondrionopathy.

Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is a potent and broad-spectrum antineoplastic agent prescribed for the treatment of a variety of cancers, including both solid tumours and leukaemias. Unfortunately, despite its broad effectiveness, long-term therapy with doxorubicin is associated with a high incidence of a cumulative and irreversible dilated cardiomyopathy. Numerous mechanisms have been proposed to account for this toxicity. Although there is general consensus that doxorubicin undergoes redox cycling to generate free radicals that are responsible for mediating the various cytopathologies associated with drug exposure, the source and subcellular targets continue to be debated. This short review provides a synopsis of the evidence implicating cardiac mitochondria as key intracellular targets, both as sites of generation of highly reactive free radical intermediates as well as targets for the interference with cell calcium regulation and bioenergetic failure that are hallmarks of doxorubicin-induced cardiac failure.

Calcium as a molecular target in angiogenesis.

The plethora of cellular pathways and events involved in angiogenesis are a prime example of the widespread role of calcium ion flux in biological functions. Indeed, calcium is a main point of intersection for many distinct molecular signaling pathways that promote and modulate angiogenesis. Here, we illustrate some of the important aspects of calcium induction, function, downstream effects, and resulting cellular changes that ensue. We describe some of the main mechanisms of calcium regulation in cells as well as intracellular and cross-membrane flux, highlighting key players that are known to facilitate these events. We review some of the major signaling pathways that tie into angiogenesis, and also describe how cellular phenotypic changes that occur during angiogenesis require processes rich in calcium ion stimulation of gradient shifts. Lastly, we hypothesize on current thinking of the role of calcium as a whole in angiogenic cellular function and propose new insight into calcium as a universal effector molecule and a prime target for therapeutic intervention.

Myoplasmic calcium regulation in myotubes from horses with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis.

To determine whether alterations in myoplasmic calcium regulation can be identified in muscle cell cultures (myotubes) and intact muscle fiber bundles derived from Thoroughbreds affected with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER). 6 related Thoroughbreds with RER and 8 clinically normal (control) Thoroughbred or crossbred horses. Myotube cell cultures were grown from satellite cells obtained from muscle biopsy specimens of RER-affected and control horses. Fura-2 fluorescence was used to measure resting myoplasmic calcium concentration as well as caffeine- and 4-chloro-m-cresol (4-CMC)-induced increases in myoplasmic calcium. In addition, intact intercostal muscle fiber bundles were prepared from both types of horses, and their sensitivities to caffeine- and 4-CMC-induced contractures were determined. Myotubes of RER-affected and control horses had identical resting myoplasmic calcium concentrations. Myotubes from RER-affected horses had significantly higher myoplasmic calcium concentrations than myotubes from control horses following the addition of > or = 2mM caffeine; however, there was no difference in their response to 4-CMC (> or = 1 mM). Caffeine contracture thresholds for RER and control intact muscle cell bundles (2 vs 10mM, respectively) were significantly different, but 4-CMC contracture thresholds of muscle bundles from RER-affected and control horses (500 microM) did not differ. An increase in caffeine sensitivity of muscle cells derived from a family of related RER-affected horses was detected in vitro by use of cell culture with calcium imaging and by use of fiber bundle contractility techniques. An alteration in muscle cell calcium regulation is a primary factor in the cause of this heritable myopathy.

The structure and function of the cardiac myocyte: A review of fundamental concepts

The structure and function of the cardiac myocyte: A review of fundamental concepts

Proteomic analysis of enamel cells from developing rat teeth: big returns from a small tissue.

Poor understanding of the molecular links between disturbed calcium regulation in cells and disease remains a problem of considerable biomedical importance. Dental enamel cells might provide useful insights to this problem since they handle calcium in bulk without suffering its cytotoxic effects. Two practical challenges hindered investigation of calcium handling mechanisms in enamel cells--paucity of molecular information and limited availability of sample from developing rat teeth, the experimental system of choice. This paper outlines the microscale proteomic approaches we applied to overcome these difficulties and reviews several major findings that ensued from initial characterization of the enamel cell proteome. Enamel cells are now established as a powerful model for fundamental calcium research and have provided outcomes of broad biological relevance, including the discovery of a new endoplasmic reticulum protein. Future proteomic approaches that might benefit understanding of function are discussed.

Altered cell calcium regulation in synaptosomes and brain cells of the 30-month-old rat: Prominent effects in hippocampus

A deficient regulation of neuronal cytosolic calcium levels has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration. However, evidence for an alteration in cytosolic calcium regulation in old age is at present controversial. The present work was aimed at studying whether changes in synaptosomal calcium homeostasis in 30-month-old rats are uniform throughout the brain or affect specific brain regions. A second question addressed in this work is whether the effect of ageing on calcium homeostasis is restricted to the nerve terminal or a more general process affecting also cell bodies. To study these questions cytosolic calcium regulation was studied in parallel in synaptosomes and a preparation of acutely dissociated brain cells obtained from different regions of 3- and 30-month-old rats. 45Ca 2+ accumulation and distribution in mitochondria (assessed as FCCP-releasable 45Ca 2+) was also studied. Mean [Ca 2+] i obtained at rest and after high K+ depolarization were unchanged in cerebral cortex synaptosomes but increased in hippocampal synaptosomes at 30 months. Resting [Ca 2+]i also increased with age in hippocampal, but not cerebral cortex cells, whereas the increase in [Ca 2+] i obtained by depolarization was larger in both brain regions. Calcium compartmentation in mitochondria from hippocampal neurons incubated under high K + conditions was also decreased with ageing. An altered calcium regulation in cell bodies and synaptic terminals in the hippocampus may be involved in the development of functional impairments in the hippocampal formation.

The Real Kinetics of the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter of the Liver and its Role in Cell Calcium Regulation

The activity of the calcium uniporter of rat liver mitochondria, allosterically enhanced by a pulse of calcium, decreases with time and in dependence on extramitochondrial Ca2+ concentration. Therefore, the initial velocity of calcium uptake by mitochondria depends on the extramitochondrial Ca2+ concentration prior to uptake. The allosteric activation by calcium and the hysteretic behaviour of the uniporter are the reasons why the course of calcium distribution between mitochondria and extramitochondrial space is determined for many minutes by the initial extramitochondrial Ca2+ concentration. This dependence and also the independence on the intramitochondrial calcium content are shown in an in vitro system, simulating conditions prevailing in vivo during the action of alpha-adrenergic agonists or vasoactive peptides on liver and during the early phase of carbon tetrachloride intoxication.

Regulation of cell calcium and contractility in mammalian arterial smooth muscle: the role of sodium‐calcium exchange.

1. The contraction and relaxation of rings of rat thoracic aorta and bovine tail artery were examined as a function of changes in the Na+ electrochemical gradient in order to determine the role of Na-Ca exchange in the control of contractility. 2. Inhibition of the Na+ pump in rat aorta by K+-free media or a low concentration (5 x 10(-5) M) of strophanthidin reversibly increased the contractile responses to caffeine and noradrenaline. These effects were dependent upon external Ca2+ and were observed even in the presence of a Ca2+ channel blocker (10 microM-verapamil or 10 microM-diltiazem) and an alpha-receptor blocker (10 microM-phentolamine). 3. Reduction of external Na+ concentration, [Na+]o (replaced by N-methylglucamine, tetramethylammonium or Tris), also caused an external Ca2+-dependent increase in tonic tension and, in rat aorta, an increase in the response to caffeine. These effects were also observed in the presence of verapamil and phentolamine. 4. Caffeine relaxed the bovine tail artery, but increased the sensitivity of the rat aorta to reduced [Na+]o. The latter effect was presumably due to block of Ca2+ sequestration in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, so that entering Ca2+ was more effective in raising the intracellular free Ca2+ level, [Ca2+]i. 5. Relaxation from K+-free or low-Na+ contractions, in Ca2+-free media, depended upon [Na+]o. Reduction of [Na+]o to 1.2 or 7.5 mM slowed the relaxation of rat aorta (5 mM-caffeine present) 3- to 5-fold, and the relaxation of bovine tail artery (without caffeine) 5- to 10-fold. These effects were seen in the presence of verapamil and phentolamine. 6. These observations are all consistent with an Na-Ca exchange transport system that can move Ca2+ either into or out of the arterial smooth muscle cells. Ca2+ entry is enhanced by raising [Na+]i (by Na+ pump inhibition) and/or lowering [Na+]o. Ca2+ extrusion from the contracted muscles is largely dependent upon external Na+. The latter observation implies that, when [Ca2+] exceeds the contraction threshold, Ca2+ efflux is mediated primarily by the Na-Ca exchanger, rather than by the sarcolemmal ATP-driven Ca2+ pump. 7. When bovine tail artery was treated with verapamil and phentolamine, and [Na+]o was reduced from 139.2 to 43.9 mM, substitution of K+ for Na+ induced a larger external Ca2+-dependent contraction than did substitution of Tris for Na+. The amplitudes of these contractions were greatly increased when the Na+ pump was inhibited by 5 x 10(-5) M-strophanthidin, presumably because of the rise in [Na+]i.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Neuronal calcium homeostasis

How do nerve cells regulate the level of free calcium ions in their cytoplasm? It appears that low resting levels must be maintained while changes sufficient to activate many intracellular processes must also be allowed. This article briefly explores some of the cellular mechanisms that could contribute to calcium homeostasis in neurones. If we are to conclude anything, it is that the regulation of cell calcium is a highly complex task, and understanding the process will certainly yield new insights into the normal physiology and the pathology of nerve cells.

Response of isolated Dahl rat kidney to calcium antagonists

We studied the responses of isolated perfused kidneys from prehypertensive, salt-sensitive (DS) and salt-resistant (DR) Dahl rats to nitrendipine or verapamil, after norepinephrine vasoconstriction. The perfusion pressure was kept constant. Superimposition of these calcium antagonists upon norepinephrine increased DS GFR by 155% and DR GFR by 58% (P = 0.03), with verapamil increasing the GFR more than nitrendipine (P = 0.02). Nitrendipine and verapamil also partially reversed norepinephrine induced increases in renal vascular resistance, but did not decrease vascular resistance or increase GFR in the absence of norepinephrine. During the increase in GFR produced by calcium antagonists, DR sodium excretion increased, but DS sodium excretion did not. Therefore, calcium antagonists disproportionately increased DS kidney GFR but did not correct DS kidney sodium retention. These data raise the possibility that the DS rat kidney possesses an abnormality of cell calcium regulation affecting glomerular dynamics, and provide evidence that the renal perfusion pressure is more critical than the GFR in adjusting DS rat sodium-excretion.

Influence of salt on response to nitrendipine by Dahl rat kidney.

We examined the responses to the calcium channel blocker, nitrendipine, of isolated perfused kidneys from Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) and salt-resistant (DR) rats that had been stabilized on high- and low-NaCl diets. Blood pressures of high-salt DS rats exceeded those of the other three groups. After norepinephrine vasoconstriction sufficient to increase renal vascular resistance (RVR) by 50%, the superimposition of 10(-5) M nitrendipine increased the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of high-salt DS rat kidneys by 125% over control values but returned the GFR of high-salt DR kidneys only to control. Nitrendipine superimposition increased the GFR of low-salt DS and DR rat kidneys by 124 and 40% over control values, respectively, and partially restored the RVR toward control. Nitrendipine alone, without norepinephrine, did not affect the GFR or RVR. The persistence within the DS kidney of an exaggerated glomerular circulatory "rebound" response to nitrendipine following the development of hypertension suggests the possibility of a maladaptation of DS kidney cell calcium regulation. The DR kidney manifests a similar response during salt restriction, but this disappears on a high-NaCl diet.

The calcium ATPase of plasma membrane in the regulation of cell calcium

The calcium ATPase of plasma membrane in the regulation of cell calcium

Glomerular response to verapamil by isolated spontaneously hypertensive rat kidney.

We investigated the possibility that altered cell calcium regulation may affect function of isolated Kyoto spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) kidneys as compared with kidneys from Wistar-Kyoto control (WKY) rats. The kidneys were perfused at 120 and 160 mmHg. At 120 mmHg, SHR glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was 0.24 +/- 0.04 compared with WKY GFR of 0.70 +/- 0.10 ml/min (P = 0.001). At 160 mmHg, SHR GFR was 0.48 +/- 0.05 compared with WKY GFR of 1.09 +/- 0.05 ml/min (P less than 0.001). At 120 mmHg, addition of norepinephrine increased renal vascular resistance (RVR) by 50% and decreased SHR GFR by 27% and WKY GFR by 57% (P = 0.04). At 160 mmHg, norepinephrine elicited similar changes. Addition of verapamil, 5-10 microM, in the presence of norepinephrine returned RVR to 100-110% of control. With verapamil at 120 mmHg, SHR GFR increased to 0.84 +/- 0.23 ml/min, a value 3.5 times that of control (P = 0.03). In contrast, WKY GFR in the presence of norepinephrine and verapamil was 0.97 +/- 0.07 ml/min, unchanged from control (P = 0.07). At 160 mmHg, norepinephrine and verapamil also failed to increase WKY GFR above control (P = 0.4) but increased SHR GFR to 52% above control (P = 0.03). Isolated SHR kidneys exhibited exaggerated GFR responses to verapamil but not to norepinephrine. Abnormal cell calcium regulation may underlie the marked decrease in GFR when SHR kidneys are perfused acutely at normotensive perfusion pressures.

Control, Modulation, and regulation of cell calcium.

Control, Modulation, and regulation of cell calcium.

Sodium ions, calcium ions, blood pressure regulation, and hypertension: a reassessment and a hypothesis

An attempt is made to elucidate the cellular mechanisms which may account for the well-documented correlation between sodium metabolism and peripheral vascular resistance. As a starting point, the evidence that the Na electrochemical gradient across the vascular smooth muscle cell plasma membrane (sarcolemma) plays an important role in cell calcium regulation is reviewed. Because there is significant resting tension ("tone") in most resistance vessels, the ionized Ca2+ level ([Ca2+]1) in the smooth muscle fibers in these vessels must be maintained above the contraction threshold. Consequently, the Ca transport system in the sarcolemma, presumably an Na-Ca exchange mechanism, must be set so as to hold [Ca2+]1 at this suprathreshold level. Any change in the Na gradient will then be reflected as a change in [Ca2+]1 and, therefore, in steady vessel wall tension and peripheral resistance. The correlation between Na metabolism and hypertension could then be accounted for if a circulating agent, perhaps the "natriuretic hormone," affects the Na gradient (across the sarcolemma) and, therefore, [Ca2+]1 and tension.