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Effects of dexamethasone on L‐type calcium currents in the A7r5 smooth muscle‐derived cell line
Author(s) -
Obejero-Paz Carlos A.,
Lakshmanan Mark,
Jones Stephen W.,
Scarpa Antonio
Publication year - 1993
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(93)80377-7
Subject(s) - dexamethasone , calcium , chemistry , endocrinology , patch clamp , biophysics , voltage dependent calcium channel , medicine , calcium channel , conductance , l type calcium channel , electrophysiology , biology , physics , condensed matter physics
Patch clamp experiments were used to characterize the effect of dexamethasone on calcium currents in A7r5 cells. Pretreatment for 48 h with 200 nM dexamethasone did not affect the single channel conductance, the voltage dependence of channel opening, or the voltage‐dependent inactivation of L‐type channels. However, dexamethasone caused an approximately 2‐fold increase in the amplitude of L‐type calcium currents in 5 out of 9 experiments, suggesting an increase in the number of active channels. The effect of dexamethasone appeared to be greatest on batches of cells with low control current density. The amplitude of T‐type calcium current was not affected by dexamethasone.