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Activation of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism by calcium ions in Limulusventral photoreceptor

Nature volume 331, pages 437–440 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Cells regulate their metabolic energy production to meet the requirements of their energy consuming activities. For most animal cells the prime site of energy production, in the form of ATP, is the mitochondrion. Extensive in vitro studies of isolated mitochondria have provided detailed information about the specific bio-chemical reactions involved in energy production1. At present there is a debate about whether respiration in excitable cells is controlled by the availability of ADP to the mitochondrion2 and/or by calcium ions3–5. Using the large ventral photoreceptor of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) we describe a method for measuring the transient increase in the mitochondrial O2 consumption (δQO2) following a flash of light of a single photoreceptor. We then show that this δQO2 results in part from a rise in the intracellular concentration of calcium (Cai).

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Author notes

  1. Alan Fein

    Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, 06032-9984, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Sensory Physiology, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Alan Fein

  2. Experimental Ophthalmology Laboratory, 22, rue Alcide-Jentzer, 1211, Geneva, 4, Switzerland

    Marcos Tsacopoulos

Authors
  1. Alan Fein
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  2. Marcos Tsacopoulos
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Fein, A., Tsacopoulos, M. Activation of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism by calcium ions in Limulusventral photoreceptor. Nature 331, 437–440 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/331437a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/331437a0

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