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Thimerosal causes calcium oscillations and sensitizes calcium‐induced calcium release in unfertilized hamster eggs
Author(s) -
Swann Karl
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80110-o
Subject(s) - thimerosal , calcium , ryanodine receptor , dithiothreitol , chemistry , hamster , inositol , golden hamster , biophysics , calcium in biology , egta , biochemistry , endocrinology , biology , receptor , medicine , organic chemistry , dermatology , enzyme
Calcium‐induced‐calcium‐release (CICR) was assayed in unfertilized golden hamster eggs by injecting Ca 2+ and monitoring Ca 2+ ‐dependent hyper‐polarizing responses (HRs) and Ca 2+ ‐sensitive fluo‐3 fluorescence. Incubating eggs in the sulfhydryl reagent thimerosal caused [Ca 2+ ] 1 oscillations as monitored by Ca 2+ ‐dependent HRs and decreased approximately 10‐fold the Ca 2+ injection current required to generate an HR and cause a large intracellular Ca 2+ increase. Thimerosal also enhanced the sensitivity of eggs to Ca 2+ injection in a calcium‐free medium. The effects of thimerosal on CICR were prevented by dithiothreitol and were not mimicked by injecting inositol 1,4,5‐triphosphate. The data suggest that thimerosal may be an alternative agent for studying CICR in caffeine‐insensitive cells.