Rapid Ca2+ refilling system of intracellular store(s) in human vascular endothelial cells

Using a fura-2 method, cytosolic Ca2+ concentration [( Ca2+]i) was measured in endothelial cell monolayers from human umbilical vein. In the presence of 1.5 mM Ca2+, bradykinin (BK) induced a rapid (within 15 sec) and dose-dependent (10(-8)-10(-6) M) increase in [Ca2+]i, consisting of an initial peak and a subsequent sustained phase. The pretreatment with 3 mM EGTA for 1 min caused a significant reduction in [Ca2+]i levels both of the basal (p less than 0.05) and BK-stimulated initial peak (p less than 0.001). However, the BK-stimulated initial peak was retained in magnitude for at least 5 min under the treatment with EGTA. In contrast, the sustained phase was completely abolished by EGTA treatment. The BK-stimulated Ca2+ transient, once having been completely inhibited by ionomycin (10(-6) M) in the presence of EGTA, was rapidly (within 2 min) recovered to the untreated level by replacing it with fresh medium containing 1.5 mM Ca2+. The present results indicated that BK mobilized Ca2+ from both intracellular and extracellular space(s) and suggest the presence of an extracellular Ca2(+)-dependent rapid refilling system of intracellular Ca2+ store(s) in human vascular endothelial cells.