Calmodulin in starfish oocytes. II. Trypsin treatment suppresses the trifluoperazine-sensitive step

Trypsin affects basal and stimulated osmotic water permeability in isolated toad skin

1. We investigated the effect of trypsin (Tryp) on basal, stimulated and fluphenazine (FPZ)-inhibited net water flow (Jw) through isolated toad skin (Bufo arenarum). 2. Epidermal Tryp (20 min) promoted an increase in basal Jw which was dose-dependent (maximal with 0.5 mg/ml) and was prevented by a Tryp inhibitor (SBTI). 3. Tryp treatment inhibited the subsequent response to substances known to act before (oxytocin, Oxy) or after cyclic AMP (cAMP) generation (theophylline). 4. Tryp-induced Jw was not additive with the maximal response to Oxy or theophylline and did not modify FPZ's inhibitory effect on stimulated Jw. 5. Dermal Tryp (0.5 mg/ml, 20 min) did not modify basal, but inhibited Oxy and isoproterenol-stimulated Jw, without altering the response to theophylline or db-cAMP. 6. Collectively, our results show a differential action for epidermal and dermal Tryp. Tryp's side-selective action enables its use as a pharmacological tool in the functional dissection of Jw across toad skin.

Possible involvement of calmodulin in apical constriction of neuroepithelial cells and elevation of neural folds in the chick

Chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine HCl, antipsychotic drugs known to bind to calmodulin, reversibly inhibited elevation of neural folds by interfering with the contractile activity of apical microfilament bundles in developing chick neuroepithelial cells.

Calcium transients during early development in single starfish (Asterias forbesi) oocytes

Maturation and fertilization of the starfish oocyte are putative calcium-dependent events. We have investigated the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of this calcium dependence in single oocytes of Asterias forbesi. We used the calcium photoprotein, aequorin, in conjunction with a microscope-photomultiplier and microscope-image intensifier. Surprisingly, in contrast to earlier work with Marasthenias glacialis, there is no detectable increase in intracellular-free calcium in the oocyte of A. forbesi in response to the maturation hormone 1-methyl adenine. During fertilization of the same, matured, A. forbesi oocyte there is a large increase in intracellular-free calcium. The calcium concentration increases to approximately 1 microM at the point of insemination and the region of elevated free calcium expands across the oocyte in approximately 20 s (17-19 degrees C). After the entire oocyte reaches an elevated concentration of free calcium, the concentration decreases uniformly throughout the oocyte over the next several minutes.