The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 81 No. 6 June 1999, pp. 2683-2695
Copyright ©1999 by the American Physiological Society

Upregulation of Calcium Homeostatic Mechanisms in Chronically Depolarized Rat Myenteric Neurons

 ¹Curriculum in Neurobiology and  ²Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

Fickbohm, David J. and Alan L. Willard. Upregulation of Calcium Homeostatic Mechanisms in Chronically Depolarized Rat Myenteric Neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 2683-2695, 1999.Upregulation of calcium homeostatic mechanisms in chronically depolarized rat myenteric neurons. Perturbations of intracellular Ca²⁺ ion concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i) have important effects on numerous neuronal processes and influence development and survival. Neuronal [Ca²⁺]_i is, in large part, dependent on activity, and changes in activity levels can alter how neurons handle calcium (Ca). To investigate the ability of neuronal Ca homeostatic mechanisms to adapt to the persistent elevation of [Ca²⁺]_i, we used optical and electrophysiological recording techniques to measure [Ca²⁺]_i transients in neurons from the rat myenteric plexus that had been chronically depolarized by growth in culture medium containing elevated (25 mM) KCl. When studied in normal saline, neurons that had previously been chronically depolarized for 3-5 days had briefer action potentials than control neurons, their action potentials produced smaller, more rapidly decaying increases in [Ca²⁺]_i, and voltage-clamp pulses with action potential waveforms evoked smaller Ca currents than in control neurons. Simultaneous voltage-clamp measurements and calcium imaging revealed that increases in the Ca handling capacities of the chronically depolarized neurons permitted them to limit the amplitudes of action potential-evoked [Ca²⁺]_i transients and to restore [Ca²⁺]_i to basal levels more rapidly than control neurons. Release of Ca from endoplasmic reticulum-based Ca stores made smaller contributions to action potential-evoked [Ca²⁺]_i transients in chronically depolarized neurons even though those neurons had larger caffeine-releasable Ca stores. Endoplasmic reticulum-based Ca sequestration mechanisms appeared to contribute to the faster decay of [Ca²⁺]_i transients in chronically depolarized neurons. These results demonstrate that when neurons experience prolonged perturbations of [Ca²⁺]_i, they can adjust multiple components of their Ca homeostatic machinery. Appropriate utilization of this adaptive capability should help neurons resist potentially lethal metabolic and environmental insults.