Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 promotes sustained activation of the Ca(2+(-dependent Cl- current in isolated mouse lacrimal cells.

Infusion of 50 microM-Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 in addition to 500 microM-Ins(1,4,5)P3 into mouse lacrimal cells via a patch-clamp pipette promoted sustained activation of the Ca(2+)-dependent Cl- current, which could not be achieved with 500 microM-Ins(1,4,5)P3 alone. It has been proposed that Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 facilitates Ca2+ influx in the presence of Ins(1,4,5)P3 [Morris, Gallacher, Irvine & Petersen (1987) Nature (London) 330, 653-655], but a subsequent study in mouse lacrimal cells [Bird, Rossier, Hughes, Shears, Armstrong & Putney (1991) Nature (London) 352, 162-165] showed that a high concentration of Ins(1,4,5)P3 could mobilize both intra- and extra-cellular Ca2+ in the absence of Ins(1,3,4,5)P4. My data confirm these findings, but also show that Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 can stimulate additional Ca2+ influx even when the Ins(1,4,5)P3-dependent intracellular Ca2+ pools have been depleted.