Active Calcium Transport and Ca2+-Activated ATPase in Human Red Cells

Ca2+-activated ATPase and ATP-dependent calmodulin-stimulated Ca2+ transport in islet cell plasma membrane

Calcium is known to play an essential part in the regulation of insulin secretion in the pancreatic beta cell. Calcium influx/efflux studies indicate that glucose promotes an accumulation of calcium by the beta cell. However, interpretation of such data is particularly difficult due to the complex compartmentalization of calcium within the cell. Although indirect evidence using chlorotetracycline suggests that control of calcium homeostasis at the plasma membrane may be central to insulin secretion, the mechanism by which secretagogues influence the handling of calcium remains unknown. Despite its continuous diffusive entry, intracellular calcium is maintained in the submicromolar range by energy-dependent mechanisms. One such process which has been well characterized in erythrocytes is a plasma membrane calcium extrusion pump whose enzymatic basis is a high affinity (Ca+2 + Mg+2)ATPase. A similar mechanism regulated by insulin has recently been identified in adipocyte plasma membranes. We report here the presence of a high affinity (Ca+2 + Mg+2)ATPase and ATP-dependent calmodulin-stimulated calcium transport system in rat pancreatic islet cell plasma membranes.

Dissociation between Ca2+-ATPase and alkaline phosphatase activities in plasma membranes of rat duodenum

The presence of Ca2+-ATPase activities with high-affinity sites for Ca2+ in brush border as well as basolateral plasma membranes of rat duodenal epithelium has been reported previously (Ghijsen, W.E.J.M. and van Os, C.H. (1979) Nature 279, 802-803). Since both plasma membranes contain alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1), which also can be stimulated by Ca2+, the substrate specificity of Ca2+-induced ATP-hydrolysis has been studied to determine whether or not alkaline phosphatase and Ca2+-ATPase are two distinct enzymes. In basolateral fragments, the rate of Ca2+-dependent ATP-hydrolysis was greater than that of ADP, AMP and p-nitrophenylphosphate at Ca2+ concentrations below 25 muM. At 0.2 mM Ca2+ the rates of ATP, ADO, AMO and p-nitrophenylphosphate hydrolysis were not significantly different. In brush border fragments the rates of ATP, ADP and AMP hydrolysis were identical at low Ca2+, but at 0.2 mM Ca2+, Ca2+-induced hydrolysis of ADO and AMO was greater than either ATP or p-nitrophenylphosphate. Alkaline phsophatase in brush border and basolateral membranes was inhibited by 75% after addition of 2.5 mM theophylline. Ca2+-stimulated ATP hydrolysis at 1 muM Ca2+ was not sensitive to theophylline in basolateral fragments while the same activity in brush border fragments was totally inhibited. At 0.2 mM Ca2+, Ca2+-induced ATP hydrolysis in both basolateral and brush border membranes was sensitive to theophylline. Oligomycin and azide had no effect on Ca2+-stimulated ATP hydrolysis, either at low or at high Ca2+ concentrations. Chlorpromazine fully inhibited Ca2+-stimulated ATP hydrolysis in basolateral fragments at 5 muM Ca2+, while it had no effect in brush border fragments. From these results we conclude that, (i) Ca2+-ATPase and alkaline phosphatase are two distinct enzymes, (ii) high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase is exclusively located in basolateral plasma membranes, (iii) alkaline phosphatase activity, present on both sides of duodenal epithelium is stimulated slightly by low Ca2+ concentrations, but this Ca2+-induced activity is inhibited by theophylline and shows no specificity with respect to ATP, ADP or AMP.

Uptake and energy-dependent extrusion of calcium in neural cells in culture

The metabolism of Ca2+ was studied in a neuronal model system, the clonal mouse neuroblastoma x rat glioma hybrid cell line 108CC5. 1. Homogenates of the hybrid cells exhibit a specific activity of Ca2+-ATPase considerably higher than that of homogenates of the parental cells. 2. Uptake and release of 45Ca2+ by the hybrid cells display two and three distinct phases, respectively, and indicate that 40--50% of the cell-associated Ca2+ is located at the cell surface. 3. The influx of 45Ca2+ is insignificantly affected by Mg2+ or Na+, slightly diminished by Ba2+ or Sr2+, strongly inhibited by La3+, Co2+ or prenylamine, and considerably enhanced by high (i.e., depolarizing) concentrations of K+. The efflux of 45Ca2+ is reduced by La3+. 4. The hybrid cells tend to maintain Ca2+ homeostasis with an overall cellular Ca2+ concentration of 0.5--0.7 mM. At 1.8 mM Ca2+ in the medium this implies the necessity of an extrusion pump in the plasma membrane. 5. A reduction in the hybrid cells of the level of ATP is paralleled by a decline in the content of Ca2+. This can only be explained by the existence of energy-dependent intracellular Ca2+ stores that effectively compete for Ca2+ with a Ca2+ pump located in the plasma membrane. The internal stores are not identical with the mitochondria because mitochondrial inhibitors hardly change Ca2+ metabolism. 6. Micromolar concentrations of the ionophore A23187 can switch off the internal Ca2+ stores without affecting considerably the influx of Ca2+ through the plasma membrane. 7. With switched-off Ca2+ stores it is possible to increase the cellular Ca2+ content distinctly and to bring it back again to the control values in an ATP-dependent manner, i.e. to demonstrate the action of a Ca2+-extrusion pump in the plasma membrane. 8. Under some conditions active extrusion of Ca2+ depends not only on ATP but also on the presence of extracellular Na+. 9. Similar results as with hybrid cells are also obtained with rat glioma cells. The methodology of combining energy deprivation with the application of the ionophore A23187 is possibly generally applicable to obtain insight into the Ca2+ metabolism of various cell types.

Structure and evolution of calcium-modulated proteins

This review suggests that the intracellular functions of calcium are best understood in terms of calcium's functioning as a second messenger. Further, when functioning as a second messenger, calcium completes its mission not by transferring charge nor by binding to lipid but by binding to specific targets, calcium-modulated proteins. This concept is broadly interpreted to include proteins involved in calcium transport. There is strong evidence that many, if not all, of these calcium-modulated proteins are homologs. Their structures and properties are contrasted to those of extracellular calcium-binding proteins which are not homologous to one another or to the intracellular calcium-modulated proteins. Finally, this line of thought leads to a suggestion of the evolutionary reason for the choice of calcium as the sole inorganic second messenger.

Calcium transport across the plasma membrane: stimulation by calmodulin

Active transport of calcium into inside-out vesicles of red blood cell membranes was stimulated equally by (i) the purified protein activator of calcium-activated, magnesium-dependent adenosinetriphosphatase isolated from red cell hemolyzates and (ii) calmodulin, a protein activator of cylic nucleotide phosphodiesterase isolated from bovine brain. The results provide further evidence for the identity of red blood cell activator and calmodulin and show that this cytoplasmic protein may participate in the regulation of plasma membrane calcium transport.

Reversal of the calcium pump in human red cells

Human red cells containing low ATP and high Pi concentrations were suspended in media with and without 2 mM Ca2+, and the incorporation of (32P)Pi into ATP was measured. There was some incorporation whatever the medium, but in every experiment there was an extra incorporation when the cells were in the Ca2+-containing medium. This extra incorporation was abolished by the ionophore A23187, which collapses the Ca2+ concentration gradient across the membranes, or by LaCl3, which blocks the Ca2+ pump. Starved and phosphate-loaded cells also show an uptake of Ca2+ which is not apparent in fresh cells. Results are consistent with the idea that Ca2+-dependent incorporation of Pi into ATP is catalyzed by the Ca2+ pump using energy derived from the Ca2+ concentration gradient.

Further characterization of calcium-accumulating vesicles from human blood platelets

Human blood platelets are capable of removing Ca2+ from the cytoplasm by means of an active, ATP-dependent and cyclic AMP-stimulated transport system. Calcium-accumulating vesicles are obtained by sonicating platelets. On density gradient centrifugation, this activity is found in the heavier of two membrane fractions. Concentrated in this fraction are also the Ca2+-stimulated Mg2+-ATPase and glucose-6-phosphatase, believed to be a marker for internal membrane systems. When the isolated vesicles are loaded with Ca2+, a third band separates from the two vesicular fractions in the density gradient. This band C contains virtually all the Ca2+-accumulating activity. Evidence that this activity is due to an active uptake and not to surface binding or adsorption is presented. Whereas electron microscopy does not reveal striking differences between active and inactive fractions, differences in protein composition are revealed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, this band contains an enzyme system which converts arachidonic acid to malondialdehyde and therefore this fraction must be the site of prostaglandin synthesis. Membranes prepared by loading platelets with glycerol, followed by osmotic lysis are unable to accumulate calcium. In sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis such membranes show significant differences in their protein pattern as compared to the actively Ca2+-accumulating vesicular membranes of band C. All preparations with Ca2+-accumulating activity also contain markers for plasma membranes and the question whether this activity is due exclusively to an intracellular structural element equivalent to the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle or whether an "extrusion pump" expelling Ca2+ to the outside of the cell is also involved, cannot yet be ;nswered.

Renal handling of magnesium

In summary, magnesium reabsorption occurs throughout the proximal and distal segments of the nephron. The proximal tubule is less permeable to magnesium than calcium and sodium with most of the filtered load being reclaimed in the ascending loop of Henle. In contrast to calcium and sodium a tubular reabsorptive maximum has been demonstrated for magnesium and under certain circumstances secretion has been demonstrated in the terminal nephron segments. Although many factors are known to affect magnesium reabsorption the mechanism of the renal homeostasis remains to be determined.

ATPase and phosphatase activities from human red cell membranes: I. The effects of N-ethylmaleimide

In human red cell membranes the sensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide of Ca2+-dependent ATPase and phosphatase activities is at least ten times larger than the sensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase and K+-activated phosphatase activities. All activities are partially protected against N-ethylmaleimide by ATP but not by inorganic phosphate or by p-nitrophenylphosphate. (ii) Protection by ATP of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase is impeded by either Na+ or K+ whereas only K+ impedes protection by ATP of K+-activated phosphatase. On the other hand, Na+ or K+ slightly protects Ca2+-dependent activities against N-ethylmaleimide, this effect being independent of ATP. (iii) The sensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide of Ca2+-dependent ATPase and phosphatase activities is markedly enhanced by low concentrations of Ca2+. This effect is half-maximal at less than 1 micron Ca2+ and does not require ATP, which suggests that sites with high affinity for Ca2+ exist in the Ca2+-ATPase in the absence of ATP. (IV) Under all conditions tested the response to N-ethylmaleimide of the ATPase and phosphatase activities stimulated by K+ or Na+ in the presence of Ca2+ parallels that of the Ca2+-dependent activities, suggesting that the Ca2+-ATPase system possesses sites at which monovalent cations bind to increase its activity.

ATPase and phosphatase activities from human red cell membranes: II. The effects of phospholipases on Ca2+-dependent enzymic activities

Treatment of human red cell membranes with pure phospholipase A2 results in a progressive inactivation of both Ca2+-dependent and (Ca2+ + K+)-dependent ATPase and phosphatase activities. When phospholipase C replaces phospholipase A2, Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity and Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of red cell membranes are lost, while Ca2+-dependent phosphatase activity is enhanced and its apparent affinity for Ca2+ is increased about 20-fold. Activation of Ca2+-dependent phosphatase following phospholipase C treatment was not observed in sarcoplasmic reticulum preparation. Phospholipase C increases the sensitivity of the phosphatase to N-ethylmaleimide but has little effect on the kinetic parameters relating the phosphatase activity to substrate and cofactors, suggesting that no extensive structural disarrangement of the Ca2+-ATPase system has occurred after incubation with phospholipase C.

Cell-membrane activation of macrophage function

A number of short-term macrophage functions are stimulated immediately on contact of suitable external materials with the macrophage plasma membrane. These include locomotion and chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and exocytosis of lysosomal hydrolases. They are probably contractile events and may be initiated by a transient increase in permeability to divalent cations either of the plasma membrane or of hypothetical intracellular cations stores. Such permeability changes may follow interaction of hydrophobic substances with the membrane bilayer or follow contact with substances which induce clustering of membrane proteins. It is conjectured that similar substances might induce long-term events such as DNA and protein synthesis, mitosis and activation of cytotoxic function in macrophages, but that to do this, contact of the substance with the macrophage must be prolonged.