TY - JOUR AU - Yao Li-jun AU - Wang Gang AU - Ou-yang Kun-fu AU - Wei Chao-liang AU - Wang Xian-hua AU - Wang Shi-rong AU - Yao Wei AU - Huang Hong-ping AU - Luo Jian-hong AU - Wu Cai-hong AU - Liu Jie AU - Zhou Zhuan AU - Cheng He-ping PY - 2016 TI - Ca 2+ sparks and Ca 2+ glows in superior cervical ganglion neurons JF - Acta Pharmacologica Sinica; Vol 27, No 7 (July 2006): Acta Pharmacologica Sinica(Special Issue on Calcium signaling) Y2 - 2016 KW - N2 - Aim: Ca 2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an integral component of neuronal Ca 2+ signaling. The present study is to investigate properties of local Ca 2+ release events in superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons. Methods: Primary cultured SCG neurons were prepared from neonatal rats (P3-P7). Low concentration of caffeine was used to induce Ca 2+ release from the ER Ca 2+ store, and intracellular Ca 2+ was recorded by high-resolution line scan confocal imaging and the Ca 2+ indicator Fluo-4. Results: Two populations of local Ca 2+ release events with distinct temporal characteristics were evoked by 1.5 mmol/L caffeine near the surface membrane in the soma and the neurites of SCG neurons. Brief events similar to classic Ca 2+ sparks lasted a few hundreds of milliseconds, whereas long-lasting events displayed duration up to tens of seconds. Typical somatic and neurite sparks were of 0.3- and 0.52-fold increase in local Fluo-4 fluorescence, respectively. Typical Ca 2+ glows were brighter (Δ F/F0 approximately 0.6), but were highly confined in space. The half maximum of full duration of neurite sparks was much longer than those in the soma (685 vs 381 ms). Conclusion: Co-existence of Ca 2+ sparks and Ca 2+ glows in SCG neurons indicates distinctive local regulation of Ca 2+ release kinetics. The local Ca 2+ signals of variable, site-specific temporal length may bear important implications in encoding a "memory" of the trigger signal. UR - http://www.chinaphar.com/article/view/4010