Design and application of a class of sensors to monitor Ca2+ dynamics in high Ca2+ concentration cellular compartments. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Quantitative analysis of Ca(2+) fluctuations in the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) is essential to defining the mechanisms of Ca(2+)-dependent signaling under physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we developed a unique class of genetically encoded indicators by designing a Ca(2+) binding site in the EGFP. One of them, calcium sensor for detecting high concentration in the ER, exhibits unprecedented Ca(2+) release kinetics with an off-rate estimated at around 700 s(-1) and appropriate Ca(2+) binding affinity, likely attributable to local Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes around the designed Ca(2+) binding site and reduced chemical exchange between two chromophore states. Calcium sensor for detecting high concentration in the ER reported considerable differences in ER Ca(2+) dynamics and concentration among human epithelial carcinoma cells (HeLa), human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-293), and mouse myoblast cells (C2C12), enabling us to monitor SR luminal Ca(2+) in flexor digitorum brevis muscle fibers to determine the mechanism of diminished SR Ca(2+) release in aging mice. This sensor will be invaluable in examining pathogenesis characterized by alterations in Ca(2+) homeostasis.

published proceedings

  • Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

altmetric score

  • 6

author list (cited authors)

  • Tang, S., Wong, H., Wang, Z., Huang, Y., Zou, J., Zhuo, Y., ... Yang, J. J.

citation count

  • 86

complete list of authors

  • Tang, Shen||Wong, Hing-Cheung||Wang, Zhong-Min||Huang, Yun||Zou, Jin||Zhuo, You||Pennati, Andrea||Gadda, Giovanni||Delbono, Osvaldo||Yang, Jenny J

publication date

  • September 2011