Hormonal stimulation of Ca2+ release from the perfused liver: effects of uncoupler

Administration of vasopressin and glucagon evokes a transient release of Ca2+ from perfused livers. The Ca2+ is released from a pool that is depletable by the mitochondrial uncoupler carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP). Therefore, the mechanism of the FCCP-stimulated Ca2+ release was examined. The FCCP-stimulated Ca2+ release was associated with a decrease in ATP levels. In the presence of oligomycin, which blocked the FCCP-induced rapid ATP breakdown, FCCP did not release Ca2+ though it still stimulated respiration. The possibility that FCCP might indirectly cause a release of Ca2+ by lowering hepatic ATP was examined at two levels of organization: 1) in the whole organ, by perfusing livers with fructose, a compound that was shown previously to drastically lower ATP in the liver, and 2) in isolated microsomal vesicles by depleting ATP with glucose and hexokinase. Fructose evoked Ca2+ release from the perfused liver. Similarly, depletion of ATP by the addition of glucose and hexokinase evoked a rapid release of the accumulated Ca2+ from microsomal vesicles probably by the inhibition of the Ca2(+)-ATPase. These results demonstrate that the major mechanism by which FCCP releases Ca2+ in intact cells is by lowering ATP levels.