BACKGROUND Noxious stimulation and nerve injury induce an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) via various receptors or ionic channels. While an increase in [Ca(2+)]i excites neurons, [Ca(2+)]i overload elicits cytotoxicity, resulting in cell death. Intracellular Ca(2+) is essential for many signal transduction mechanisms, and its level is precisely regulated by the Ca(2+)...

Nicholas, Susanne B., and Kenneth D. Philipson. Cardiac expression of the Na1/Ca21 exchanger NCX1 is GATA factor dependent. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 46): H324–H330, 1999.—The cardiac sarcolemmal Na1/Ca21 exchanger plays a primary role in Ca21 efflux and is important in regulating intracellular Ca21 and beat-to-beat contractility. Of the three Na1/Ca21 exchanger genes cloned (NC...

Ground squirrel, a hibernating mammalian species, is more resistant to ischemic brain stress than rat. Gaining insight into the adaptive mechanisms of ground squirrels may help us design treatment strategies to reduce brain damage in patients suffering ischemic stroke. To understand the anti-stress mechanisms in ground squirrel neurons, we studied glutamate toxicity in primary cultured neurons ...

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine Na-Ca exchanger 2, 3 (NCX2, 3) protein level changes during 2, 5, 10, 15 days after induction of normobaric hyperoxia (HO) preconditioning. Materials and Methods: Rats were divided in two experimental groups. The first group was exposed to 95% inspired HO for 4 h/day for 6 consecutive days (HO). The second group acted as control, and was...

Each year more than a million Americans suffer heart attacks and strokes. Most of these events result from the sudden thrombotic occlusion of a coronary or cerebral artery at the site of an atherosclerotic plaque (Corti et al., 2002). Tissue solely supplied by the occluded artery becomes hypoxic/anoxic. Oxygenation of surrounding tissue with collateral blood supply may also be compromised. At t...

The importance of Na+/Ca2+ exchangers in the regulation of the physiological and pathological functions of the nervous system has been widely recognized. In this study, we used primary cultured E14.5 cortical neurons as a model system to study the possible roles of the reverse mode Na+/Ca2+ exchange activity in neurotransmission. Using RT-PCR, several exchanger isoforms, ncx1, ncx3 and nckx2-4 ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The sodium-calcium exchanger NCX1 represents a key mediator for maintaining [Na(+)](i) and [Ca(2+)](i) in anoxic conditions. To date, no information is available on NCX1 protein expression and activity in microglial cells under ischemic conditions. METHODS By means of Western blotting, patch-clamp electrophysiology, single-cell Fura-2 acetoxymethyl-ester microfluorometr...

There is substantial evidence indicating that disruption of Ca(2+) homeostasis and activation of cytosolic proteases play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). However, the exact nature of the Ca(2+) deregulation and the Ca(2+) signaling pathways that are altered in dystrophic muscles have not yet been resolved. Here we examined the contribution of...

Endothelin ET(A) receptor couples to Gq/11 protein that transduces a variety of receptor signals to modulate diverse cellular responses including Ca2+ mobilization. Stimulation of endothelin ETA receptor with endothelin-1 is generally believed to induce an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) via Gq/11 protein. Here we provide the first convincing evidence that endothelin-1 el...