Cytoplasmic calcium removal

Figure 48-12. Schematic illustration of some aspects of the role of the osteoclast in bone resorption. Lysosomal enzymes and hydrogen ions are released into the confined microenvironment created by the attachment between bone matrix and the peripheral clear zone of the osteoclast. The acidification of this confined space facilitates the dissolution of calcium phosphate from bone and is the optimal pH for the activity of lysosomal hydrolases. Bone matrix is thus removed, and the products of bone resorption are taken up into the cytoplasm of the osteoclast, probably digested further, and transferred into capillaries. The chemical equation shown in the figure refers to the action of carbonic anhydrase II, described in the text. (Reproduced, with permission, from Jun-queira LC, Carneiro J BasicHistology. Text Atlas, 10th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2003.)...

Fast-twitch muscle fibers develop tension two to three times faster than slow-twitch muscle fibers because of more rapid splitting of ATP by myosin ATPase. This enables the myosin crossbridges to cycle more rapidly Another factor influencing the speed of contraction involves the rate of removal of calcium from the cytoplasm. Muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions by pumping them back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Fast-twitch muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions more rapidly than slow-twitch muscle fibers, resulting in quicker twitches that are useful in fast precise movements. The contractions generated in slow-twitch muscle fibers may last up to 10 times longer than those of fast-twitch muscle fibers therefore, these twitches are useful in sustained, more powerful movements. 

The SR membrane contains a very efficient calcium uptake transporter, which maintains free cytoplasmic calcium at very low levels during diastole by pumping calcium into the SR. The amount of calcium sequestered in the SR is thus determined, in part, by the amount accessible to this transporter. This in turn is dependent on the balance of calcium influx (primarily through the voltage-gated membrane calcium channels) and calcium efflux, the amount removed from the cell (primarily via the sodium-calcium exchanger, a transporter in the cell membrane). 

The depolarization that accompanies the action potential induces an increase in membrane permeability to calcium ions. A large inward electrochemical gradient exists for calcium and it moves into the terminal. The calcium that enters the terminal activates enzymes that cause the attachment of some of the vesicles to releasing sites on the terminal membrane, membrane fusion, and the release of the vesicular contents into the synaptic cleft. Transmitter release is terminated by the removal of calcium from the terminal cytoplasm, either via a calcium pump, which pumps it out of the cell, or by uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum or into mitochondria. 

As shown in Fig. 3 (Top Panel), dietary tyrosine is transported into axon terminals of DA neurons and converted in the cytoplasm to DOPA by the rate limiting enzyme TH. DOPA is then rapidly decarboxylated by DDC to DA which is taken up and stored in synaptic vesicles until release. Excess newly synthesized DA is metabolized by mitochondrial monoamine oxidase (MAO) to DOPAC which rapidly diffuses out of neurons and is taken up and converted to homovanillic acid (HVA) by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)-containing glial cells in the neuropil (Hansson and Sellstrom, 1983 Kimelberg, 1986). Upon arrival of an action potential at the axon terminal, vesicular DA is released into the synapse via calcium-dependent exocytosis where it is free to interact with stimulatory Di and/or inhibitory D2 DA receptors on postsynaptic target cells and inhibitory D2 autoreceptors on presynaptic terminals. A major portion of DA is removed from the synapse by high affinity DA transporters located on presynaptic terminals, and recaptured DA is either metabolized to DOPAC by mitochondrial MAO or stored in synaptic vesicles for subsequent re-release. A small portion of DA can also be taken up from the synapse by glia and metabolized to 3-methoxytyramine (3MT) and HVA. 

We will consider the structural and mechanistic features of P-type ATPases by examining the Ca ATPase found in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR Ca ATPase, or SERCA) of muscle cells. The properties of this member have been established in great detail, by relying on crystal structures of the pump in five different states. This enzyme, which constitutes 80% of the protein in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, plays an important role in muscle contraction, a process triggered by an abrupt rise in the cytoplasmic calcium ion level. Muscle relaxation depends on the rapid removal of from the cytoplasm into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, a specialized compartment for Ca storage, by SERCA, This pump maintains a Ca" concentration of approximately 0.1 pM in the cytoplasm compared with 1.5 mM in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. 

If different cells use calcium from different sources to mediate secretion, then it is likely that methods for removal of cytoplasmic calcium also vary. A plasma membrane calcium pump is important in adrenal medulla to extrude mediator calcium (22). In exocrine pancreas, calcium may be returned to intracellular storage pools, as well as extruded from the cell to terminate secretion. 

One mechanism for removal of mediator calcium is by packaging of cytoplasmic calcium within secretory granules (23). In... 

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