Effect of magnesium on calcium efflux in dialyzed squid axon

The interaction of intracellular Mg2+ and pH on Cl- fluxes associated with intracellular pH regulation in barnacle muscle fibers

The intracellular dialysis technique was used to measure unidirectional Cl- fluxes and net acid extrusion by single muscle fibers from the giant barnacle. Decreasing pHi below normal levels of 7.35 stimulated both Cl- efflux and influx. These increases of Cl- fluxes were blocked by disulfonic acid stilbene derivatives such as SITS and DIDS. The SITS-sensitive Cl- efflux was sharply dependent upon pHi, increasing approximately 20-fold as pHi was decreased from 7.35 to 6.7. Under conditions of normal intracellular Mg2+ concentration, the apparent pKa for the activation of Cl- efflux was 7.0. We found that raising [Mg2+]i, but not [Mg2+]o, had a pronounced inhibitory effect on both SITS-sensitive unidirectional Cl- fluxes as well as on SITS-sensitive net acid extrusion. Increasing [Mg2+]i shifted the apparent pKa of Cl- efflux to a more acid value without affecting the maximal flux that could be attained. This relation between pHi and [Mg2+]i on SITS-sensitive Cl- efflux is consistent with a competition between H ions and Mg ions. We conclude that the SITS-inhibitable Cl- fluxes are mediated by the pHi-regulatory transport mechanism and that changes of intracellular Mg2+ levels can modify the activity of the pHi regulator/anion transporter.

Interactions of physiological ligands with the Ca pump and Na/Ca exchange in squid axons

We have studied the interaction of physiological ligands other than Nai and Cai with the Ca pump and Na/Ca exchange in internally dialyzed squid axons. The results show the following. (a) Internal Mg2+ is an inhibitor of the Nao-dependent Ca efflux. At physiological Mg2+i (4 mM), the inhibition amounts to approximately 50%. The inhibition is partial and noncompetitive with Cai, and is not affected by Nai or ATP. The ATP-dependent uncoupled efflux is unaffected by Mgi up to 20 mM. Both components of the Ca efflux require Mg2+i for their activation by ATP. (b) At constant membrane potential, Ki is an important cofactor for the uncoupled Ca efflux. (c) Orthophosphate (Pi) activates the Nao-dependent Ca efflux without affecting the uncoupled component. Activation by Pi occurs only in the presence of Mg-ATP or hydrolyzable ATP analogues. Pi under physiological conditions has no effect on the uncoupled component; nevertheless, at alkaline pH, it inhibits the Ca pump, probably by product inhibition. (d) ADP is a potent inhibitor of the uncoupled Ca efflux. The Nao-dependent component is inhibited by ADP only at much higher ADP concentrations. These results indicate that (a) depending on the concentration of Ca2+i, Na+i Mg2+i, and Pi, the Na/Ca carrier can operate under a low- or high-rate regime; (b) the interactions of Mg2+i, Pi, Na+i, and ATP with the carrier are not interdependent; (c) the effect of Pi on the carrier-mediated Ca efflux resembles the stimulation of the Nao-dependent Ca efflux by internal vanadate; (d) the ligand effects on the uncoupled Ca efflux are of the type seen in the Ca pump in red cells and the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Sodium- and adenosine-triphosphate-dependent calcium movements in membrane vesicles prepared from dog erythrocytes

Inside-out vesicles from the membranes of dog erythrocytes were obtained by the method of Lew & Seymour (1982) for study of Ca movements. In the absence of ATP, 45Ca accumulation by the vesicles was inhibited by external Na and stimulated by internal Na. The presence of either MgCl2, quinidine sulphate, or LaCl3 in the incubation medium inhibited 45Ca accumulation in the absence of ATP. The release of 45Ca from 45Ca-loaded vesicles was specifically promoted by Na+ in the absence as well as in the presence of ATP. The accumulation of 45Ca by vesicles was stimulated by ATP and the effect of ATP was entirely dependent on the presence of Mg. The Mg- and ATP-dependent 45Ca accumulation was stimulated by the presence of either K or Na in the medium, was hyperbolically activated by increasing the Ca2+ concentration in the medium, was stimulated by calmodulin and inhibited by orthovanadate (10(-4) M) or LaCl3 (10(-3) M). The data demonstrate the presence of two mechanisms for controlling Ca movements in inside-out vesicles from dog erythrocyte membranes, a Na-dependent one similar to the Na-Ca exchange described for squid axons and cardiac muscle and a Ca pump utilizing ATP with characteristics similar to those described for human erythrocytes and squid axons.

Calcium movement in nerve fibres

Given the existence of a difference in electrical potential between the interior of a nerve cell and the media surrounding it, where the cytoplasm is some 70 mV negative (Hodgkin, 1958), it must be expected that any positively charged ion to which the cell membrane is permeable is more concentrated in the cell interior. For monovalent cations such as Na and divalent cations such as Ca and Mg this is not the case in the majority of the cells such as the squid giant axon. In other words, nerve cells maintain a lower intracellular concentration of these ions, as compared with their concentration in the extracellular fluid. For Mg, Ca and Na ions, this lower internal concentration must, in the steady state, be effected by some membrane based mechanism which consumes energy.