title: Sensing and refilling calcium stores in an excitable cell.
abstract: Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-induced Ca2+ mobilization leads to depletion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and an increase in Ca2+ entry. We show here for the gonadotroph, an excitable endocrine cell, that sensing of ER Ca2+ content can occur without the Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ current (Icrac), but rather through the coupling of IP3-induced Ca2+ oscillations to plasma membrane voltage spikes that gate Ca2+ entry. Thus we demonstrate that capacitative Ca2+ entry is accomplished through Ca(2+)-controlled Ca2+ entry. We develop a comprehensive model, with parameter values constrained by available experimental data, to simulate the spatiotemporal behavior of agonist-induced Ca2+ signals in both the cytosol and ER lumen of gonadotrophs. The model combines two previously developed models, one for ER-mediated Ca2+ oscillations and another for plasma membrane potential-driven Ca2+ oscillations. Simulations show agreement with existing experimental records of store content, cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), and electrical activity, and make a variety of new, experimentally testable predictions. In particular, computations with the model suggest that [Ca2+]i in the vicinity of the plasma membrane acts as a messenger for ER content via Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels and Ca2+ pumps in the plasma membrane. We conclude that, in excitable cells that do not express Icrac, [Ca2+]i profiles provide a sensitive mechanism for regulating net calcium flux through the plasma membrane during both store depletion and refilling.
authors.affiliation: Mathematical Research Branch, National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Y X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Stojilković
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keizer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rinzel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008954:Models, Biological; D010052:Ovariectomy; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases; D002118:Calcium