Calcium uptake via endocytosis with rapid release from acidifying endosomes

A number of specific cellular Ca2+ uptake pathways have been described in many different cell types [1-3], The possibility that substantial quantities of Ca2+ could be imported via endocytosis has essentially been ignored, although it has been recognized that endosomes can store Ca2+ [4,5]. Exocrine cells can release significant amounts of Ca2+ via exocytosis [6], so we have investigated the fate of Ca2+ taken up via endocytosis into endosomes. Ca2+-sensitive and H+-sensitive fluorescent probes were placed in the extracellular solution and subsequently taken up into fibroblasts by endocytosis. Confocal microscopy was used to assess the distribution of fluorescence intensity. Ca2+ taken up by endocytosis was lost from the endosomes within a few minutes, over the same period as endosomal acidification took place. The acidification was inhibited by reducing the extracellular Ca2+ concentration, and Ca2+ loss from the endosomes was blocked by bafilomycin (100 nM), a specific inhibitor of the vacuolar proton ATPase. Quantitative evaluation indicated that endocytosis causes substantial import of Ca2+ because of rapid loss from early endosomes. (C) Current Biology Ltd ISSN 0960-9822.