title: Intracellular Ca2+ signaling induced by vasopressin, ATP, and epidermal growth factor in epithelial LLC-PK1 cells.
abstract: The free calcium concentrations in nucleus ([Ca2+]n) and in cytoplasm ([Ca2+]c) of cultured renal LLC-PK1 epithelial cells were estimated by confocal laser microscopy. No difference between the resting mean [Ca2+]n and [Ca2+]c was found. During stimulation with maximal effective concentrations of arginine vasopressin (AVP) or the purinergic agonist ATP, the transient Ca2+ rise was followed mostly by a decline to basal levels. A differential rise could be observed when the increase in [Ca2+]n attained higher values than [Ca2+]c. In 50-60% of the cells, epidermal growth factor (EGF) also induced a transient Ca2+ rise, and a differential increase ([Ca2+]n > [Ca2+]c) was found. The G protein-linked stimuli AVP and ATP were however quantitatively much more efficacious at stimulating the [Ca2+]n and [Ca2+]c increases than was EGF. To investigate whether AVP, ATP, and EGF released Ca2+ from distinct or overlapping stores, the agonists were sequentially added. AVP and ATP applied after EGF in Ca(2+)-free medium elicited an increase in [Ca2+]n and [Ca2+]c that was not significantly lower than the release of Ca2+ in control cells without EGF prestimulation. Similarly, the amplitude of the Ca2+ responses attained by EGF in cells prestimulated by ATP or AVP was comparable to the response in naive cells. Neither EGF, ATP, nor AVP evoked a Ca2+ signal after thapsigargin treatment, indicating that the intracellular Ca2+ pools stimulated by all these agonists are part of the thapsigargin-sensitive Ca2+ pools. In contrast, when ATP was applied after AVP in Ca(2+)-containing as well as in Ca(2+)-free solutions, the Ca2+ transients were lower as compared with the response without preincubation. No differential rise could be found in Ca(2+)-free conditions. An explanation could be the use of different phospholipase C isozymes by the different receptor types, which possibly gives rise to the mobilization of different Ca2+ pools.
authors.affiliation: Physiological Laboratory, K. U. Leuven, Gasthuisberg, Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Himpens
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: De Smedt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casteels
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000502:physiology*; D007687:Kidney Tubules, Proximal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013729:Terpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D019284:Thapsigargin
chemical_list: D013729:Terpenes; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D019284:Thapsigargin; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases; D002118:Calcium