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Quantal calcium release by purified reconstituted inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors

Nature volume 356, pages 350–352 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

RELEASE of intracellular Ca2+ by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) occurs through specific receptor proteins1 which are ligand-activated Ca2+ channels . Changes in intracellular Ca2+ regulate many cellular functions3. This Ca2+ release is a discontinuous quantal process in which successive increments of InsP3 transiently release precise amounts of Ca2+ (refs 4–6). Possible explanations of quantal Ca2+ release have included rapid degradation of InsP3, reciprocity of Ca2+ release and sequestration, desensitization of InsP3 receptors7, or actions of InsP3 on discrete compartments of Ca2+ with variable sensitivity to InsP3 (ref. 4). We successfully reconstituted InsP3-induced Ca2+ flux in vesicles containing only purified InsP3 receptor protein2. The reconstituted vesicles retain the regulatory features of the InsP3 receptor, including phosphory-lation sites8 and modulation of Ca2+ release by adenine nucleo-tides9. Using these reconstituted vesicles, we show here that quantal flux of Ca2+ elicited by InsP3 is a fundamental property of its receptor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Mayland, 21205, USA

    Christopher D. Ferris, Andrew M. Cameron, Richard L. Huganir & Solomon H. Snyder

  2. Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Mayland, 21205, USA

    Solomon H. Snyder

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Mayland, 21205, USA

    Solomon H. Snyder

  4. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Mayland, 21205, USA

    Richard L. Huganir

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  3. Richard L. Huganir
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  4. Solomon H. Snyder
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Ferris, C., Cameron, A., Huganir, R. et al. Quantal calcium release by purified reconstituted inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors. Nature 356, 350–352 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356350a0

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