title: Possible involvement of mechanosensitive Ca2+ channels of plasma membrane in mechanoperception in Chara.
abstract: When an internodal cell of Chara corallina was stimulated with a mechanical pulse of various amplitudes lasting for 0.1 s (mechanical stimulus), the cell generated a receptor potential, which was highly dependent not only on the strength of the stimulus but also on the extracellular Cl- concentration. Extracellular Ca2+ was indispensable for generating receptor potential, since removal of Ca2+ reversibly inhibited generation of the receptor potential. The cytoplasmic Ca2+ level transiently rose upon mechanical stimulation. The stronger the mechanical stimulus, the larger was the increase in the cytoplasmic level of Ca2+. It is proposed that the first step of receptor potential is an activation of mechanosensitive Ca2+ channels at the plasma membrane.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata, 950-2181 Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Chiyuki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimmen
authors.forename: Munehiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikuyama
mesh_terms: D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D044784:Chara / Q000378:metabolism*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D008564:Membrane Potentials
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels