Junichi Kitanaka (#), Kazuhiro Takuma, Kaoru Kondo and Akemichi Baba (*)
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan (#) Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663, Japan (*) To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: We investigated prostanoid-induced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in Ca2+-sensitive dye fura-2-loaded cultured astrocytes. The thromboxane (TX) A2 analog STA2 (9,11-epithio-11,12-methano- TXA2) and/or prostaglandin (PG) F2alpha (each used at 1 microM) stimulated intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in single cultured rat type 1 astrocytes. Three response patterns were observed: only STA2-sensitive, only PGF2alpha-sensitive, and both prostanoids-sensitive cells. The Ca2+ response was prostanoid-dose-dependent (0.1 - 1 microM) and showed a rapid spike-like Ca2+ rise that peaked within 30 sec after the stimulation by the ligand. These observations suggest that type 1 astrocytes are heterogeneous with respect to the expression of receptors for TXA2 and PGF2alpha, which are linked to Ca2+ mobilization.
Keywords:
Thromboxane A2, Ca2+ mobilization, Astrocyte