XXXV Reunião Anual da SBBqResumoID:8355


Extra-cellular glucose stimulates the yeast Ca2+ transporters showing the dominating contribution of the high affinity and high capacity Ca2+/H+ exchangers of the secretory pathway in Ca2+ efflux from cytosol


Camila C. Ribeiro; Flavia E. Silva; Bernardes, N.R.; Anna L. Okorokova-Façanha and Lev A. Okorokov



Laboratório de Fisiologia e Bioquímica de Microorganismos, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual de Norte Fluminense,Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ, 28013-600, Brasil.


The current model of the Ca2+ homeostasis in yeast considers three transporters which mediate calcium efflux from cytoplasm, namely Golgi (Pmr1p) and vacuolar (Pmc1p) Ca2+-ATPases and vacuolar Ca2+/H+ exchanger (Vcx1p). A role of the ER, plasma membrane (PM) and their Ca2+ transporters is still controversial or even ignored. The published data on the effective maintenance of the low Ca2+ in the yeast cytosol in vivo by Vcx1p are in contradiction with widely accepted opinion on its low affinity for Ca2+. We show here that extra-cellular glucose stimulated the Ca2+/H+ exchangers of total membranes (TM) more than 7 times and Ca2+-ATPases 2 times leading to 80% contribution of the exchangers in the Ca2+ efflux from cytosol. The Ca2+/H+ exchangers of TM exhibited the same order of affinity for Ca2+ and higher velocity of the transport in comparison with Ca2+-ATPases (KM=100 nM; Vmax=4.3 nmol/min x mg after the stimulation with glucose and KM=60 nM and Vmax=0.52 nmol/min x mg before activation). Ca2+-ATPases of TM have KM= 50 nM and 46 nM with Vmax=1.25 and 0.28 nmol/min x mg, after and before the activation with glucose, respectively. The fractionation of membranes in sucrose density gradient has revealed that different organelles of the secretory pathway possess both type of Ca2+ transporters showing a tendency of their selective regulation by extra-cellular glucose and higher activity of the exchanger. All compartments of secretory pathway participate in Ca2+ homeostasis with a remarkable contribution of the ER/PM in Ca2+ efflux from cytosol (26%). These data together with the finding of the high affinity and high activity of the Ca2+/H+ exchangers in the organelles of the secretory pathway ensure and explain their important role in the Ca2+ homeostasis and Ca2+ signaling.

Financial support of UENF, CNPq, CAPES is acknowledged.