In recent years, expression of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+)-ATPase in heterologous systems has been a widely used strategy to study altered enzymes generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Various eukaryotic expression systems have been tested, all of them yielding comparable amounts of recombinant protein. However, the relatively low yield of recombinant protein obtained so far sug...

The timing of downstream migration and detection rates of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts and stream-reared smolts (stocked 2 years earlier as fry) were examined in the Connecticut River (U.S.A.) using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags implanted into fish and then detected at a downstream fish bypass collection facility at Turners Falls, MA (river length 192 km). In t...

Division of Experimental Cardiology, Dept of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim; Dept of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany; Dept of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Dept of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; Unit of Cardiac Physiology, Manchester Academic Health Sciences...

I. Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ............................................................................. 152 II. Isolated Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Vesicles ................................................. 153 III. Isolation of Calsequestrin ........................................................................... 155 IV. Ca Binding by Calsequestrin .................................................

Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca release in intact ventricular myocytes is the major source of Ca which activates cardiac contraction (although Ca influx makes a non-negligible contribution in most species). The fundamental events of SR Ca release are known as Ca sparks. The twitch Ca transient is composed of approximately 10,000 Ca sparks occurring in a given cell, and they are synchronized by t...

Abstract Background and Aims The lifespan of erythrocytes in patients with renal anemia is shortened (∼70 days) compared to that healthy (120 days), but the pathological mechanisms causes are unclear. Senescent express phosphatidylserine (PS) on their outer membrane, which a signal for being removed by macrophages. PS localization cellular membrane mainly regulated two transporters: flippases s...

The rate of Ca2+ clearance from the neuronal cytoplasm affects the amplitude, duration, and localization of Ca2+ signals and influences a variety of Ca2+-dependent functions. We reported previously that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) accelerates Ca2+ efflux in rat sensory neurons mediated by the plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase isoform 4 (PMCA4). Here we show that sarco-endoplasmic reticulum C...

Background & Aims: Sodium arsenite, an environmental pollutant, produces free radicals with harmful effects on the reproductive system. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of curcumin, as a strong antioxidant, on the testis tissue and spermatogenic cell population in mice treated with sodium arsenite. Methods: In this experimental study, A...

Maitotoxin (MTX) activates Ca(2+)-permeable nonselective cation channels and causes a dramatic increase in cytosolic free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in every cell examined to date, but the molecular identity of the channels involved remains unknown. A clue came from studies of a structurally related marine toxin called palytoxin (PTX). PTX binds to the plasmalemmal Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase (NK...