Single cell Ca2+/cAMP cross-talk monitored by simultaneous Ca2+/cAMP fluorescence ratio imaging.

The spatial and temporal dynamics of two intracellular second messengers, cAMP and Ca2+, were simultaneously monitored in living cells by digital fluorescence ratio imaging using FlCRhR, a single-excitation dual-emission cAMP indicator, and fura-2, a dual-excitation single-emission Ca2+ probe. In single C6-2B glioma cells, isoproterenol- or forskolin-evoked cAMP accumulation (measured in vivo as an increased FlCRhR emission ratio) was reduced when cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration was elevated before, simultaneously with, or after cAMP activation. However, in REF-52 fibroblasts, Ca2+ neither prevented nor reduced forskolin-stimulated cAMP production. These results provide novel in vivo evidence for the Ca2+ modulation of the cAMP transduction pathway in C6-2B cells. The simultaneous microscopic measurement of cAMP and Ca2+ kinetics in single cells makes it now possible to study the regulatory interactions between these second messengers at the cellular and even the subcellular level.