Yi-Chung Hsieh, Ying-Ru Chen, Err-Lieh Hsu and Rong Kou (2003) Pharmacological effects of calcium channel agtagoinsts on juvenile hormone acid release and intracellular calcium level in the corpora allata of adult male Mythimna loreyi (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Zoological Studies 42(2): 336-345. The pharmacological effects of calcium channel antagonists on the in vitro release of juvenile hormon...

It is widely believed that the selectivity of voltage-dependent calcium channels is mainly controlled by amino acid residues contained within four p-loop motifs forming the pore of the channel. An examination of the amino acid sequences of high voltage-activated calcium channels reveals that their domain III S5-H5 regions contain a highly conserved motif with homology to known EF hand calcium b...

Alcohol modulates the highly conserved, voltage- and calcium-activated potassium (BK) channel, which contributes to alcohol-mediated behaviors in species from worms to humans. Previous studies have shown that the calcium-sensitive domains, RCK1 and the Ca(2+) bowl, are required for ethanol activation of the mammalian BK channel in vitro. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, ethanol activates...

CRAC (Calcium Release-Activated Calcium) channels represent the primary pathway for so-called "store-operated calcium entry" - the cellular entry of calcium induced by depletion of intracellular calcium stores. These channels play a key role in diverse cellular activities, most noticeably in the differentiation and activation of Tcells, and in the response of mast cells to inflammatory signals....

The heart is a heterogeneous tissue composed of several cell types tailored for specialized functions. We found that intracellular channels also exhibit regional specialization. In cardiac and skeletal muscle these channels are called the calcium-release channel and are identified by activation with either calcium or caffeine and inhibition by the hexavalent cation ruthenium red. The calcium-re...

Activation of plasma membrane calcium channels by depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium stores is important for calcium entry in many cell types. Park et al. (2009) now show that direct binding of the ER protein STIM to tetramers of the Orai1 calcium channel in the plasma membrane triggers opening of this channel.

Pharmacologically distinct calcium channels have been characterized in dissociated cutaneous sensory neurons and motoneurons of the larval lamprey spinal cord. To enable cell identification, sensory dorsal cells and motoneurons were selectively labeled with fluorescein-coupled dextran amine in the intact spinal cord in vitro before dissociation. Calcium channels present in sensory dorsal cells,...

In 1964, Albretch Fleckenstein described an inhibitory action ofverapamil and prenylamine on excitation-contraction coupling that was similar to calcium depletion. By the late 1970s, the clinical use of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) was widely accepted for variety of cardiovascular indications, including hypertension, dysrhythmias, and angina. Later indications, including Raynaud phenomenon, ...