Modulation of rat incisor odontoblast plasma membrane-associated Ca2+ with nifedipine

In addition to the Ca2+ portion freely dissociated in the cytosol, another Ca2+ pool is associated with plasma membranes and intracellular organelle membranes. This Ca2+ portion is of importance for regulation of, among other things, the cell cycle, actin-mediated processes, and cell morphology. In the literature, dihydropyridines have been reported to influence this membrane-associated pool of Ca2+ under certain conditions. The aim of this investigation was to study possible modulations of plasma membrane-associated Ca2+ upon treatment with nifedipine in vitro in a Ca2+-transporting cell, the dentin-forming odontoblast. The membrane-associated portion of Ca2+ in dissected dentinogenically active rat incisor odontoblasts was monitored by fluorescence spectrophotometry using chlortetracycline as a probe. In addition, images of chlortetracycline-Ca2+ binding were obtained by fluorescence microscopy. It was found that membrane-associated Ca2+ decreased by the dihydropyridine nifedipine, whereas this Ca2+ pool was unaffected by the cellular polarization state, which was in contrast to cytosolic free Ca2+ as measured by fura-2. The results show that the odontoblast plasma membrane-associated Ca2+-pool can be modulated by nifedipine, thus being dependent on the conformational state of the L-type Ca2+ channels.