Calcium transfer across the outer mantle epithelium in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

The objective of the present study was to characterize the Ca2+ transfer performed by the OME of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, as well as to develop an Ussing chamber technique for the functional assessment of transport activities in epithelia of marine bivalves. Kinetic studies revealed that the Ca2+ transfer across the OME consists of one saturable and one linear component, of which the saturable component fits best to Michaelis–Menten kinetics and is characterized by a Km of 6.2 mM and a Vmax of 3.3 nM min–1. The transcellular transfer of Ca2+ accounts for approximately 60% of the total Ca2+ transfer across the OME of C. gigas at environmental Ca2+ concentrations. The use of the pharmacological inhibitors: verapamil, ouabain and caloxin 1a1 revealed that voltage-gated Ca2+-channels, plasma-membrane Ca2+-ATPase and Na+/Ca2+-exchanger all participate in the transcellular Ca2+ transfer across the OME and a model for this Ca2+ transfer is presented and discussed.
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: physiology, cellular biology Development and physiology Source Type: research