Regulation by purinergic agonists of zinc uptake by rat submandibular glands

The zinc uptake in rat submandibular cells was measured using fura2 as a fluorescent probe. Basal zinc uptake was observed in a 100 microM - 1 mM concentration range. Carbachol and isoproterenol had no effect but ATP4- dose-dependently increased the basal zinc uptake (half-maximal concentration: 250 microM). The purinergic agonist shifted the concentration curve for zinc to the left by one order of magnitude. The response to ATP was not reproduced by adenosine or ADP and was blocked by Coomassie blue. Calcium, nickel or lanthanum were inhibitors of zinc uptake, while the substitution of extracellular sodium by potassium or lithium increased the basal zinc uptake. We conclude that in submandibular cells zinc can permeate through the non-specific cation channel coupled to ATP-sensitive purinergic receptors.