Calcium rises abruptly and briefly throughout the cell at the onset of anaphase.
Continuous measurement and imaging of the intracellular free calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) of mitotic and interphase PtK1 cells was accomplished with the new fluorescent Ca2+ indicator fura-2. No statistically significant difference between basal [Ca2+]i of interphase and mitotic cells was detected. However, mitotic cells showed a rapid elevation of [Ca2+]i from basal levels of 130 nM to 500 to 800 nM at the metaphase-anaphase transition. The [Ca2+]i transient was brief, lasting approximately 20 seconds and the elevated [Ca2+]i appeared uniformly distributed over the entire spindle and central region of the cell. The close temporal association of the [Ca2+]i transient with the onset of anaphase suggests that calcium may have a signaling role in this event.
D000705:Anaphase; D000818:Animals; D001572:Benzofurans; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D016257:Fura-2; D008938:Mitosis
D001572:Benzofurans; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D002118:Calcium; D016257:Fura-2