Thapsigargin, a tumor promoter, discharges intracellular Ca2+ stores by specific inhibition of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-ATPase

TY - JOUR

T1 - Thapsigargin, a tumor promoter, discharges intracellular Ca2+ stores by specific inhibition of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-ATPase

AU - Thastrup, Ole

AU - Cullen, P J

AU - Drøbak, B K

AU - Hanley, M R

AU - Dawson, A P

PY - 1990

Y1 - 1990

N2 - Thapsigargin, a tumor-promoting sesquiterpene lactone, discharges intracellular Ca2+ in rat hepatocytes, as it does in many vertebrate cell types. It appears to act intracellularly, as incubation of isolated rat liver microsomes with thapsigargin induces a rapid, dose-dependent release of stored Ca2+. The thapsigargin-releasable pool of microsomal Ca2+ includes the pools sensitive to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and GTP. Thapsigargin pretreatment of microsomes blocks subsequent loading with 45Ca2+, suggesting that its target is the ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump of endoplasmic reticulum. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the demonstration that thapsigargin causes a rapid inhibition of the Ca2(+)-activated ATPase activity of rat liver microsomes, with an identical dose dependence to that seen in whole cell or isolated microsome Ca2+ discharge. The inhibition of the endoplasmic reticulum isoform of the Ca2(+)-ATPase is highly selective, as thapsigargin has little or no effect on the Ca2(+)-ATPases of hepatocyte or erythrocyte plasma membrane or of cardiac or skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. These results suggest that thapsigargin increases the concentration of cytosolic free Ca2+ in sensitive cells by an acute and highly specific arrest of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump, followed by a rapid Ca2+ leak from at least two pharmacologically distinct Ca2+ stores. The implications of this mechanism of action for the application of thapsigargin in the analysis of Ca2+ homeostasis and possible forms of Ca2+ control are discussed.

AB - Thapsigargin, a tumor-promoting sesquiterpene lactone, discharges intracellular Ca2+ in rat hepatocytes, as it does in many vertebrate cell types. It appears to act intracellularly, as incubation of isolated rat liver microsomes with thapsigargin induces a rapid, dose-dependent release of stored Ca2+. The thapsigargin-releasable pool of microsomal Ca2+ includes the pools sensitive to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and GTP. Thapsigargin pretreatment of microsomes blocks subsequent loading with 45Ca2+, suggesting that its target is the ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump of endoplasmic reticulum. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the demonstration that thapsigargin causes a rapid inhibition of the Ca2(+)-activated ATPase activity of rat liver microsomes, with an identical dose dependence to that seen in whole cell or isolated microsome Ca2+ discharge. The inhibition of the endoplasmic reticulum isoform of the Ca2(+)-ATPase is highly selective, as thapsigargin has little or no effect on the Ca2(+)-ATPases of hepatocyte or erythrocyte plasma membrane or of cardiac or skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. These results suggest that thapsigargin increases the concentration of cytosolic free Ca2+ in sensitive cells by an acute and highly specific arrest of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump, followed by a rapid Ca2+ leak from at least two pharmacologically distinct Ca2+ stores. The implications of this mechanism of action for the application of thapsigargin in the analysis of Ca2+ homeostasis and possible forms of Ca2+ control are discussed.

KW - Animals

KW - Biological Transport

KW - Calcium

KW - Calcium-Transporting ATPases

KW - Carcinogens

KW - Cell Membrane

KW - Cells, Cultured

KW - Endoplasmic Reticulum

KW - Fluorescent Dyes

KW - Guanosine Triphosphate

KW - Humans

KW - Indoles

KW - Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate

KW - Kinetics

KW - Liver

KW - Male

KW - Microsomes, Liver

KW - Plants, Medicinal

KW - Rats

KW - Terpenes

KW - Thapsigargin

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 2138778

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 87

SP - 2466

EP - 2470

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 7

ER -