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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Calcium transport and homeostasis in gill cells of a freshwater crab Dilocarcinus pagei

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Author(s):
Granado e Sa, Marina [1] ; Baptista, B. B. [1] ; Farah, L. S. [2] ; Leite, V. P. [2] ; Zanotto, F. P. [2]
Total Authors: 5
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Physiol, Inst Biociencias, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] Univ Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Ctr Ciencias Biol & Saude, BR-01302907 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 2
Document type: Review article
Source: JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL; v. 180, n. 3, p. 313-321, MAR 2010.
Web of Science Citations: 6
Abstract

Crustaceans present a very interesting model system to study the process of calcification and calcium (Ca(2+)) transport because of molting-related events and the deposition of CaCO(3) in the new exoskeleton. Dilocarcinus pagei, a freshwater crab endemic to Brazil, was studied to understand Ca(2+) transport in whole gill cells using a fluorescent probe. Cells were dissociated, all of the gill cell types were loaded with fluo-3 and intracellular Ca(2+) change was monitored by adding Ca as CaCl(2) (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.50, 1.0 and 5 mM), with a series of different inhibitors. For control gill cells, Ca(2+) transport followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K (m) = 0.42 +/- A 0.04 mM and V (max) = 0.50 +/- A 0.02 mu M (Ca(2+) change x initial intracellular Ca(-1) x 180 s(-1); N = 14, r (2) = 0.99). Verapamil (a Ca(2+) channel inhibitor) and amiloride (a Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger {[}NCX] inhibitor) completely reduced intracellular Ca(2+) transport, while nifedipine, another Ca(2+) channel inhibitor, did not. Vanadate, a plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor (PMCA), increased intracellular Ca(2+) in gill cells through a decrease in the efflux of Ca(2+). Ouabain increased intracellular Ca(2+), similar to the effect of KB-R, a specific NCX inhibitor for Ca(2+) in the influx mode. Alterations in extracellular {[}Na] in the saline did not affect intracellular Ca(2+) transport. Caffeine, responsible for inducing Ca release from sarcoplasmic reticulum in vertebrate muscle, increased intracellular Ca(2+) compared to control, suggesting an effect of this inhibitor in gill epithelial cells of Dilocarcinus pagei, probably through release of intracellular stores. We also demonstrate here that intracellular Ca(2+) in gill cells of Dilocarcinus pagei was kept relatively constant in face of an extracellular Ca concentration of 50-fold, suggesting that crustaceans are able to display Ca(2+) homeostasis through various Ca(2+) intracellular sequestration mechanisms and/or plasma membrane Ca(2+) influx and outflux that are highly regulatory. In summary, studies using whole gill cells are an interesting approach for working with real regulatory Ca(2+) mechanisms in intact cells under physiological Ca levels (mM range), compared to earlier work using isolated vesicles of various epithelial cells. (AU)