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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Single-Cell Calcium Imaging for Studying the Activation of Calcium Ion Channels
Published on: December 13, 2024
Direct coupling between arachidonic acid-induced Ca2+ release and Ca2+ entry in HEK293 cells
Dali Luo1, Hongli Sun, Xiaomei Lan
1Institute of Cardiovascular Science at Health Science Center, Peking University, Beijing 100083, PR China. luod@grc.nia.nih.gov
Abstract:
Arachidonic acid (AA) modulates intracellular Ca2+ signaling via Ca2+ release or/and Ca2+ entry. However, the mechanism underlies either process is unknown; nor is it clear as to whether the two processes are mechanistically linked. By using Fura2/AM, we found that AA induced mobilization of internal Ca2+ store and an increment in Ca2+, Mn2+ and Ba2+ influx in HEK293 cells. The AA-mediated Ca2+ signaling was not due to AA metabolites, and insensitive to capacitative Ca2+ entry inhibitors. Interestingly, isotetrandrine and Gd3+ inhibited both AA-induced Ca2+ release and Ca2+ entry in a concentration-dependent manner without affecting Ca2+ discharge caused by carbachol, caffeine, or thapsigargin. Additionally, similar pattern of inhibition was observed with tetracaine treatment. More importantly, the three compounds exhibited almost equal potent inhibition of AA-initiated Ca2+ release as well as Ca2+ influx. Therefore, this study, for the first time, provides evidence for a direct coupling between AA-mediated Ca2+ release and Ca2+ entry.
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