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Effects of the extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+] o ) on whole cell membrane currents were examined in mouse osteoclastic cells generated from bone marrow/stromal cell coculture. The major resting conductance in the presence of 1 m m Ca2+ was mediated by a Ba2+-sensitive, inwardly rectifying K+ (IRK) current. A rise in [Ca2+] o (5–40 m m) inhibited the IRK current and activated an 4,4′-diisothiocyano-2,2′-stilbenedisulfonate (DIDS)-sensitive, outwardly rectifying Cl− (ORCl) current. The activation of the ORCl current developed slowly and needed higher [Ca2+] o than that required to inhibit the IRK current. The inhibition of the IRK current consisted of two components, initial and subsequent late phases. The initial inhibition was not affected by intracellular application of guanosine 5′-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS) or guanosine 5′-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDPβS). The late inhibition, however, was enhanced by GTPγS and attenuated by GDPβS, suggesting that GTP-binding proteins mediate this inhibition. The activation of the ORCl current was suppressed by pretreatment with pertussis toxin, but not potentiated by GTPγS. An increase in intracellular Ca2+ level neither reduced the IRK current nor activated the ORCl current. Staurosporine, an inhibitor for protein kinase C, did not modulate the [Ca2+] o -induced changes in the IRK and ORCl conductances. These results suggest that high [Ca2+] o had a dual action on the membrane conductance of osteoclasts, an inhibition of an IRK conductance and an activation of an ORCl conductance. The two conductances modulated by [Ca2+] o may be involved in different phases of bone resorption because they differed in Ca2+ sensitivity, temporal patterns of changes and regulatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrophysiological properties of mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC) were studied under the whole-cell clamp configuration. About one third of the cells were quiescent, but others expressed either inward or outward currents. Inwardly rectifying (IR) currents were predominant in 14% of the cells, and outwardly rectifying (OR) currents in 24%. The rest (22%) of the cells exhibited both inward and outward currents. The IR currents were eliminated by 1 m m Ba, and were partially inhibited by 100 μ m quinidine. The reversal potential was dependent on extracellular K, thereby indicating that K mediated the IR currents. The negative conductance region was seen at potentials positive to E. The OR currents did not apparently depend on the extracellular K concentration, but were reduced by lowering the extracellular Cl concentration. The OR currents were partially blocked by 1 m m Ba, and were further blocked by a Cl channel blocker, 4,4′-diisothiocyano-2, 2′-stilbenedisulfonate (DIDS). In addition, the reversal potential of the OR currents was positively shifted by decreasing the ratio of external and internal Cl concentrations, suggesting that Cl was a major ion carrier. In cells exhibiting IR currents, the membrane potential varied among cells and tended to depolarize by elevating the external K concentration. In cells with OR currents, the resting potential was hyperpolarized in association with an increase in conductance. These results suggest that BMMC have a heterogeneous electrophysiological profile that may underlie a variety of ion channels expressed in different phenotypes of mast cells. Activities of both the inwardly rectifying K channel and the outwardly rectifying Cl channel seem to contribute to the regulation of the membrane potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the noise of the inward currents induced by stimulation of rat peritoneal mast cells with compound 48/80 (48/80), a secretagogue, and examined the role of extracellular Ca2+ in generation of the large noise. In the presence of 2 mM Ca2+ in the external solution, the power density spectra of the 48/80-induced inward currents in most cells were fitted with the sum of two Lorentzian functions. The cut-off frequencies (fc) at -50 mV for the low and high frequency components were 16.3 +/- 7.3 (n = 10) and 180 +/- 95 (n = 9) Hz. Involvement of a cation-selective channel in the large noise was identified in some cells, but the single channel current amplitude estimated from parameters of the noise varied among cells (0.20-2.47 pA at -50 mV), thereby indicating that the currents were mediated by more than two classes of channel. The low frequency component of the 48/80-induced currents was suppressed by lowering the extracellular Ca2+ concentration to 1 microM with the addition of EGTA, without appreciable changes in the high frequency component. When the extracellular Ca2+ was reduced to 1 microM by EGTA 1 min prior to stimulation, 48/80 induced little or no currents in most cells and small currents in some cells. The power density spectra of the small currents were fitted mainly by a single Lorentzian curve with an fc of 150 +/- 5.8 Hz (n = 3). Re-admission of 1.3 mM Ca2+ produced a low frequency part of current noise with an fc of 18.8 (n = 2) Hz.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]