Neurotransmitter release from bovine adrenal chromaffin cells is modulated by capacitative Ca(2+)entry driven by depleted internal Ca(2+)stores.

Two potential mechanisms by which the intracellular Ca(2 stores might modulate catecholamine release from bovine adrenal chromaffin cells were investigated: (i) that the cytosolic Ca(2+)transient caused by Ca(2+)release from the intracellular stores recruits additional chromaffin granules to a readily releasable pool that results in augmented catecholamine release when this is subsequently evoked, and (ii) that the Ca(2+)influx that follows depletion of intracellular stores (i.e. store-operated Ca(2+)entry) triggers release per se thereby augmenting evoked catecholamine release. When histamine or caffeine were applied in Ca(2+)-free perfusion media, a transient elevation of intracellular free Ca(2+)occurred owing to mobilization of Ca(2+)from the stores. When Ca(2+)was later readmitted to the perfusing fluid there followed a prompt and maintained rise in intracellular Ca(2+)concentrations of magnitude related to the degree of store mobilization. In parallel experiments, increased catecholamine secretion was measured under the conditions when Ca(2+)influx following store-mobilization occurred. Furthermore, the size of the catecholamine release increment correlated with the degree of Ca(2+)influx. Store-operated Ca(2+)entry evoked by mobilization with histamine and/or caffeine did not augment nicotine-evoked secretion per se; that is, it augmented evoked catecholamine release only to the extent that it increased basal catecholamine release. The nicotine-evoked catecholamine release was sensitive to cytosolic BAPTA, which, at the concentration used (50 microM BAPTA-AM), reduced release by approximately 25%. However, the increment in basal catecholamine release which followed Ca(2+)influx triggered by Ca(2+)store mobilization was not reduced by intracellular BAPTA. This finding is inconsistent with the hypothesis that the elevated cytosolic Ca(2+)from store mobilization recruits additional vesicles of catecholamine to the sub-plasmalemmal release sites to augment subsequently evoked secretion. This position is supported by the observation that histamine (10 microM) in Ca(2+)-free medium caused a pronounced elevation of cytosolic free Ca(2+), but this caused no greater catecholamine release when Ca(2+)was re-introduced than did prior exposure to Ca(2+)-free medium alone, which caused no elevation of cytosolic free Ca(2+). It is concluded that intracellular Ca(2+)stores can modulate secretion of catecholamines from bovine chromaffin cells by permitting Ca(2+)influx through a store-operated entry pathway. The results do not support the notion that the Ca(2+)released from intracellular stores plays a significant role in the recruitment of vesicles into the ready-release pool under the experimental conditions reported here. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.