Mitochondria, calcium and pro-apoptotic proteins as mediators in cell death signaling

Cellular Ca2+ signals are crucial in the control of most physiological processes, cell injury and programmed cell death through the regulation of a number of Ca2+-dependent enzymes such as phospholipases, proteases, and nucleases. Mitochondria along with the endoplasmic reticulum play pivotal roles in regulating intracellular Ca2+ content. Mitochondria are endowed with multiple Ca2+ transport mechanisms by which they take up and release Ca2+ across their inner membrane. During cellular Ca2+ overload, mitochondria take up cytosolic Ca2+, which in turn induces opening of permeability transition pores and disrupts the mitochondrial membrane potential (Dym). The collapse of Dym along with the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria is followed by the activation of caspases, nuclear fragmentation and cell death. Members of the Bcl-2 family are a group of proteins that play important roles in apoptosis regulation. Members of this family appear to differentially regulate intracellular Ca2+ level. Translocation of Bax, an apoptotic signaling protein, from the cytosol to the mitochondrial membrane is another step in this apoptosis signaling pathway

Comparison of the effect of calcium withdrawal from the medium and of blockade of extracellular calcium entry by isradipine on the contractile responses of the isolated rat stomach

The role of calcium in drug-induced contractions of rat gastric fundus strips was evaluated by determining the effect of two procedures on the dose-respponse curves of agonists: a) removal of calcium from the nutrient solution and b) blockade of calcium channels with the dihydrophydine isradipine. Gastric strips were obtanied from adult Wistar rats and suspended in Tyrode solution at 37-C for contraction studies. Dose-response curves for carbachol (CCh), serotonin (5-HT), KCl and BaCl2 were constructed under the two conditions descrived above. A complete blockade of contractile effects was observed for 5-HT and KCl 60 min after calcium withdrawal of after using 3 mM (45 min) of the calcium antagonist. A lower dose of antagonist or a shorter incubation in calcium-free solution caused a partial decrease of dose-response curves, added to a 30-fold shift to the right after the calcium antagonist (1mM), or a larger than 100-fold shift 3 min after calcium removal. In contrast, dose-response curves for CCh and BaCl2 were not significantly affected by either type of treatment. It is concluded that 5-HT and KCl utilize extracellular sources of calcium, whereas CCh or BaCl2 depends on a tightly-bound calcium pool in this preparation