Oscillations of pH inside the Secretory Granule Control the Gain of Ca2+ Release for Signal Transduction in Goblet Cell Exocytosis

W Chin, I Quesada, T Nguyen… - Mucus Hypersecretion in …, 2002 - Wiley Online Library
Mucus Hypersecretion in Respiratory Disease: Novartis Foundation …, 2002Wiley Online Library
Although Ca2+ plays a critical function in relaying intracellular messages, the role of
subcellular organelles in the dynamics of intracellular Ca2+ still remains largely unexplored.
We recently demonstrated that secretory granules can signal their own export from the cell
by releasing Ca2+ to the cytosol. Oscillations and release of Ca2+ in/from the granule result
from the combined action of a Ca2+/K+ ion exchange process that occurs in the granule's
matrix, and the sequential activation of two Ca2+‐sensitive ion channels: an inositol 1, 4, 5 …
Summary
Although Ca2+ plays a critical function in relaying intracellular messages, the role of subcellular organelles in the dynamics of intracellular Ca2+ still remains largely unexplored. We recently demonstrated that secretory granules can signal their own export from the cell by releasing Ca2+ to the cytosol. Oscillations and release of Ca2+ in/from the granule result from the combined action of a Ca2+/K+ ion exchange process that occurs in the granule's matrix, and the sequential activation of two Ca2+‐sensitive ion channels: an inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor Ca2+ channel (InsP3R) and an apamin‐sensitive Ca2+‐activated K+ channel (ASKCa). The results reported here from studies using isolated mucin granules indicate that intralumenal granular Ca2+ oscillations ([Ca2+]L) and the corresponding cyclical release of Ca2+ to the cytosol induced by InsP3 are accompanied by corresponding intragranular pHG oscillations. Our data show that K+‐induced unbinding of Ca2+ from the mucin matrix increases as the pHG declines. These observations suggest that oscillations of pHG can modulate the gain of the Ca2+/K+ ion exchange process, thereby controlling the amplitude of [Ca2+]L oscillations and the granule‐cytosol release gradient of [Ca2+].
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