Transmembrane and transepithelial movement of calcium during stimulus-secretion coupling

Electrophysiological studies were undertaken to determine the transmembrane and transepithelial changes in free Ca2+ concentration that occur during serotonin-induced secretion in the salivary glands of the blowfly, Phormia regina. Ca-selective and conventional microelectrodes were used to measure intracellular and luminal Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca]L), serosal membrane and transepithelial potentials (Em, Etr), and their changes during serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT)-induced salivary secretion. The effect of stimulus concentration on these parameters and enzyme release was also determined. Previous studies provided evidence that serosal stimulation with 10(-8) M 5HT caused a hyperpolarization of Em and short phasic two- to threefold increases in [Ca]i. In these studies, higher concentrations of 5HT (10(-7) M) resulted in depolarization of Em by 13 +/- 1.2 mV and of ECa by 64 +/- 2.1 mV, a dramatic increase in [Ca]i, and a decrease in enzyme release. In addition, serotonin (10(-8) M) reduced the normal spontaneous Etr (+19.6 +/- 1 mV) to near zero while causing an increase in [Ca]L from 1.3 +/- 0.3 X 10(-5) mM to 2.0 +/- 0.1 X 10(-3) mM, a concentration isomolar with that of the bathing medium. These results provide direct electrochemical evidence that, during stimulus-secretion coupling of the salivary epithelial cells, the neurohormone serotonin controls the secretory response by the regulation of intracellular Ca2+ and induces transepithelial transport of Ca2+, thereby suggesting that, during secretion, the neurohormone causes the salivary gland to behave as a "leaky epithelium" by activating the paracellular shunt pathways.