Microsomal calcium-accumulating ability of bovine coronary artery and aorta

Calcium uptake and binding activities of microsomal fractions from bovine coronary artery and aorta were examined. The isolated microsomal fraction of the coronary artery and aorta showed 7- to 8-fold higher glucose-6-phosphatase activity and 4- to 6-fold higher NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity as compared with the corresponding values for the homogenate fraction. Coronary artery and aorta microsomal calcium uptake activities were 118 and 159 nmoles Ca2+/mg protein/10 min in the presence of 100 microM CaCl2, respectively. These activities for bovine vascular smooth muscle microsomes are higher than those of other species investigated. The calcium uptake activities were dependent on calcium concentrations ranging from 5 to 50 microM in the assay medium. The onset of the reaction for aorta microsomal calcium uptake was faster than that for the coronary artery. The calcium uptake activity was also dependent on ATP, but it was practically independent of oxalate ions in the assay medium. Microsomal calcium binding activities of the coronary artery and aorta were maximal at 20 min of incubation under the present experimental conditions. A lower Km value of the aortic calcium binding for ATP was obtained as compared with that for the coronary artery. The present experiment explored several characteristics of the microsomal calcium-accumulating ability of vascular smooth muscle, which provides meaningful information for further study on cellular calcium movements in vascular smooth muscle.