Calcium dependence of ciliary activity in the oviduct of the salamander Necturus

1. Ciliary activity in the oviduct of the mud puppy Necturus maculosus was monitored by a photometric technique in normal, decalcified, and Triton X-extracted preparations to investigate the regulatory role of calcium ions.2. The frequency of ciliary beating in the isolated tissue ranged from 0 to 12 beats/sec. The frequency in any one group of cells underwent large cyclical variations with periods of 2 min or more.3. Frequency of beating reached a maximum and remained at a plateau upon addition of 1 mM caffeine. Beating temporarily ceased upon removal of the caffeine.4. Ionophoretic injection of calcium ions into an active cell bathed in Ringer solution produced an increased rate of beating. In cells rendered quiescent by prior decalcification with EGTA, injected calcium rapidly restored ciliary activity.5. Epithelia extracted in Triton X-100 were inactive until reactivated by addition of ATP and magnesium ions. The frequency of beating increased between 0.1 and 4.0 mM ATP in 1 mM magnesium, and between 0.2 and 2.5 mM magnesium in 1 mM ATP.6. The frequency of beating in the ATP-reactivated, Triton-extracted tissue was independent of the calcium ion concentration.7. Cells inactivated by decalcification were reactivated by injection of ATP or by extracellular ATP levels as low as 3 x 10(-8)M.8. It is concluded that the frequency of beating depends directly on the concentration of the available energy source, presumably ATP, and that an indirect dependence of beating frequency on calcium concentration in the living tissue results from rate-limiting effects of intracellular calcium on metabolic steps in pathways leading to ATP synthesis.