Intracellular calcium dynamics and cerebral injury: modeling various insults in vitro

The magnitude and time course of intracellular [Ca2+]i alterations were studied after excitatory amino acid challenge (EAA) or chemical energy depletion in mature spinal cultures. While either cytotoxic event led to prompt increases in [Ca2+]i, the pattern of these changes before and after exposure to the toxin was different. EAA [Ca2+]i changes seem primarily dependent on surface membrane alterations from which the cells rapidly recover while energy depletion effects release of [Ca2+]i from intracellular stores and produces a lasting compromise in the ability of these neurons in culture to recover from the initial insult.