title: Purinergic signalling and intercellular Ca2+ wave propagation in the organ of Corti.
abstract: Extracellular ATP is a key neuromodulator of visual and auditory sensory epithelia. In the rat cochlea, pharmacological dissection indicates that ATP, acting through a highly sensitive purinergic/IP(3)-mediated signaling pathway with (little or) no involvement of ryanodine receptors, is the principal paracrine mediator implicated in the propagation of calcium waves through supporting and epithelial cells. Measurement of sensitivity to UTP and other purinergic agonists implicate P2Y(2) and P2Y(4) as the main P2Y receptor isoforms involved in these responses. Ca2+ waves, elicited under highly reproducible conditions by carefully controlling dose (1 microM) and timing of focal agonist application (0.2s), extended over radial distance greater than 160 microm from the source, identical to those activated by damaging single outer hair cells. Altogether, these results indicate that intercellular calcium waves are a robust phenomenon that confers a significant ability for cell-cell communication in the mammalian cochlea. Further ongoing research will reveal the roles that such Ca2+ waves play in the inner ear.
authors.affiliation: Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Foundation for Advanced Biomedical Research, via G. Orus 2, 35129 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.forename: Catalin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Ciubotaru
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mammano
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D009925:Organ of Corti / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D058473:Receptors, Purinergic P2Y2; D019284:Thapsigargin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: C546387:P2ry2 protein, rat; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2; D058473:Receptors, Purinergic P2Y2; C104749:purinoceptor P2Y4; D019284:Thapsigargin; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate