Angiotensin II causes sustained elevations in cytosolic calcium in glomerulosa cells

Studies were conducted to examine the effects of angiotensin II on cytosolic free calcium concentration in bovine adrenal glomerulosa cells maintained in primary culture. The calcium indicator, fura-2, and discontinuous dual-wavelength fluorescence spectroscopy were used to measure cytosolic free calcium in superfused adherent cell monolayers. Basal cytosolic free calcium concentration was 63.7 +/- 3.3 nM. The threshold concentration for angiotensin II-stimulated increases in cytosolic calcium was 10(-14)-10(-13) M, and maximal elevation of cytosolic calcium was produced by 10(-9) M angiotensin II. Angiotensin II (10(-13) M) produced a gradual increase in cytosolic calcium concentration that plateaued after 3-5 min of superfusion at a level approximately 1.2 times that of control cells. The calcium signal invoked by a maximal concentration (10(-9) M) of angiotensin II, in contrast, was characterized by an immediate, intense (approximately 8-fold) increase in cytosolic calcium concentration that decayed within 5 min to a lower, but sustained, level 2.5-3 times that of control cells. The calcium signals invoked by intermediate concentrations (10(-12)-10(-10) M) of angiotensin II exhibited dose-dependent increases in magnitude and a gradual transition in nature between those invoked by threshold and maximal concentrations of the peptide. The effect of angiotensin II to increase cytosolic calcium concentration was accompanied by an increase in aldosterone output. The increase in steroidogenesis was most closely correlated with the magnitude of the initial calcium signal. At high concentrations (10(-10) and 10(-9) M) of angiotensin II, there was a clear dissociation between aldosterone output and the magnitude of the sustained calcium signal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)