The effects of calcium2+ and magnesium2+ on the electrophoretic mobility of chromaffin granules measured by electrophoretic light scattering.

Electrophoretic light scattering was used to determine the electrophoretic mobility distributions of isolated bovine adrenal chromaffin granules as a function of divalent metal ion concentrations. Changes in the electrophoretic mobility reflected changes in the surface charge density of the granules. Ca2+ and Mg2+ (0.10--2.0 mM) were equally effective in reducing the electrophoretic mobilities. These findings are consistent with recent studies of the binding of Ca2+ and Mg2+ to the surface of chromaffin granules and are further evidence that the specific role of Ca2+ in exocytosis is due to effects other than the ability of Ca2+ to decrease the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged membranes.