Spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in subcellular compartments of vascular smooth muscle cells rely on different Ca2+ pools

Spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in vascular smooth muscle cells have been modeled using a single Ca2+ pool. This report describes spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations dependent on two separate Ca2+ sources for the nuclear versus cytoplas- mic compartments. Changes in free intracellular Ca2+ were monitored with ratiometric Ca2+- fluorophores using confo- cal microscopy. On average, spontaneous oscillations developed in 79% of rat aortic smooth muscle cells that were synchronous between the cytoplasm and nucleus. Reduction of extracellular Ca2+ (< 1 μM) decreased the frequency and amplitude of the cytoplasmic oscillations with 48% of the oscillations asynchronous between the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. Similar results were obtained with the Ca2+ channel blockers, nimodipine and diltiazem. Arg-vasopressin (AVP) induced a rapid release of intracellular Ca2+ stores that was greater in the nuclear compartment (4.20 ± 0.23 ratio units, n = 56) than cytoplasm (2.54 ± 0.28) in cells that had spontaneously developed prior oscillations. Conversely, cells in the same conditions lacking oscillations had a greater AVP-induced Ca2+ transient in the cytoplasm (4.99 ± 0.66, n = 17) than in the nucleus (2.67 ± 0.29). Pre-treatment with Ca2+ channel blockers depressed the AVP responses in both compartments with the cytoplasmic Ca2+ most diminished. Depletion of internal Ca2+ stores prior to AVP exposure blunted the nuclear response, mimicking the response of cells that lacked prior oscillations. Spontaneous oscillating cells had a greater sarcoplasmic reticulum network than cells that did not oscillate. We propose that sponta- neous nuclear oscillations rely on perinuclear sarcoplasmic reticulum stores, while the cytoplasmic oscillations rely on Ca2+ influx.