Calcium and stimulus-secretion coupling in the mast cell: stimulant and inhibitory effects of calcium-rich media on exocytosis.

1. Isolated rat peritoneal mast cells incubated in Ca-free media for 2 h, with or without EDTA, and observed by phase-contact microscopy, became ;bubbled' in appearance when subsequently exposed to media rich in calcium (16-110 mM).2. Electron microscopy showed the response to be ;compound' exocytosis of the sort elicited by conventional mast cell secretagogues such as antigen (in sensitized cells) and 48/80.3. The response to Ca was inhibited by withdrawing glucose and adding dinitrophenol and was thus energy-dependent.4. Mg in similarly high concentration had no such stimulant effect on Ca-deprived cells, and excess Ca stimulated only after Ca deprivation.5. It is suggested that Ca deprivation may increase the permeability of the plasma membrane of the mast cell thereby allowing some Ca, when subsequently introduced in high concentration, to penetrate and activate exocytosis; and the results are considered further support for the postulated mediator function of Ca in stimulus-secretion coupling.6. Two inhibitory effects of calcium in high concentration were detected: (a) suppression of migration or expulsion of granules from the exocytotic pits within the cellular domain; and (b) diminished sensitivity to 48/80.