title: Calcium diffusion in the brain cell microenvironment.
abstract: A review of some of the literature on Ca2+ diffusion in free media and a variety of nervous tissues is presented. In the majority of tissue studies the apparent diffusion coefficient of Ca2+ is three to nine times smaller than that in a free aqueous medium. The methodology of using pressure microejection and Ca2+ ion-selective microelectrodes to measure Ca2+ diffusion is discussed. Our ongoing studies of Ca2+ diffusion in the cerebral cortex of the rat, using these methods, also confirm that Ca2+ diffusion is mainly influenced by the tortuosity of the tissue rather than other factors such as binding to extracellular charge sites or uptake.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004058:Diffusion
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium