Depolarisation-evoked Ca2+ waves in the non-excitable rat megakaryocyte

1. A combination of patch clamp, confocal microscopy and immunohistochemistry was used to examine the spatial properties of Ca2+ signalling in the rat megakaryocyte, a non-excitable cell type in which membrane potential can markedly modulate agonist-evoked Ca2+ release. 2. Intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) increases, stimulated by both ADP and depolarisation, frequently originated from a peripheral locus and spread as a wave throughout the cell. Spatially restricted [Ca2+]i increases, consistent with elementary Ca2+ release events, were occasionally observed prior to ADP-evoked waves. 3. ADP- and depolarisation-evoked Ca2+ waves travelled approximately twice as fast around the periphery of the cell compared to across its radius, leading to a curvilinear wavefront. There was no significant difference between wave velocities generated by the two stimuli. 4. Immunohistochemical staining of type III IP3 receptors, the endoplasmic reticulum-specific protein GRP78/BiP and calreticulin indicated a major peripheral location of the cellular Ca2+ stores which probably accounts for the accelerated wave velocity at the cell periphery. 5. These data demonstrate that [Ca2+]i increases, stimulated by depolarisation or the agonist ADP, have indistinguishable spatial properties, providing evidence that similar underlying mechanisms are responsible for their generation.