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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Ex Vivo Analysis of Mechanically Activated Ca2+ Transients in Urothelial Cells
Published on: September 28, 2022
Possible involvement of mechanosensitive Ca2+ channels of plasma membrane in mechanoperception in Chara
Toshiyuki Kaneko1, Chiyuki Saito, Teruo Shimmen
1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata, 950-2181 Japan.
Abstract:
When an internodal cell of Chara corallina was stimulated with a mechanical pulse of various amplitudes lasting for 0.1 s (mechanical stimulus), the cell generated a receptor potential, which was highly dependent not only on the strength of the stimulus but also on the extracellular Cl- concentration. Extracellular Ca2+ was indispensable for generating receptor potential, since removal of Ca2+ reversibly inhibited generation of the receptor potential. The cytoplasmic Ca2+ level transiently rose upon mechanical stimulation. The stronger the mechanical stimulus, the larger was the increase in the cytoplasmic level of Ca2+. It is proposed that the first step of receptor potential is an activation of mechanosensitive Ca2+ channels at the plasma membrane.
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