title: Spontaneous calcium oscillations in Xenopus laevis melanotrope cells are mediated by omega-conotoxin sensitive calcium channels.
abstract: The dynamics of intracellular Ca2+ signalling in single melanotrope cells of the pituitary gland of the amphibian Xenopus laevis have been studied by means of a digital imaging technique using the fluorescent dye Fura-2. When placed in vitro, the majority of the cells (77%) displayed spontaneous oscillatory changes in the free cytosolic Ca2+ concentration with a frequency of 1 +/- 0.25 (SD) min-1. The oscillations rapidly stopped when extracellular Ca2+ was reduced to nanomolar concentrations, revealing their complete dependence on Ca2+ influx. The fact that the Ca2+ oscillations were blocked by 1 microM omega-conotoxin, but not by nifedipine, at concentrations up to 50 microM, indicated that Ca2+ entered the cell via N-type rather than L-type voltage operated Ca2+ channels. Thapsigargin, a putative inhibitor of intracellular Ca(2+)-ATPase activity, elevated the baseline Ca2+ concentration but had no effect on the occurrence of the spontaneous oscillations. This suggests that intracellular Ca2+ pools are not involved in the mechanism underlying spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations. This is the first report showing spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations mediated by N-type Ca2+ channels in melanotrope cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Scheenen
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Jenks
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Roubos
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Willems
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020916:Conotoxins; D009991:Oscillometry; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D020916:Conotoxins; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C029960:conotoxin GI; D002118:Calcium