The Calcium Channel: Structure, Function and Implications

This is the first book to summarize experimental results from the new, rapidly expanding field of research into the calcium channel in cell membrane. Calcium is an ubiquitous messenger of various cellular functions. Its fundamental role in the regulation of cardiac contractions has long been recognized. Drugs counteracting some actions of calcium ions, namely calcium antagonists, have since become essential to research. In the last decade it has been established that calcium ions reach their target intracellular system by passing through specialized calcium channels in the membrane. Recently improved experimental techniques combined with the discovery of highly specific Ca channel ligands have dramatically enlarged our knowledge of the molecular structure and function of such channels. The contributions by leading world specialists shed new light on both basic science and possible clinical implications for cardiovascular pharmacology, endocrinology and neuropharmacology.

History and Philosophy of Bayer Pharmaceutical Research.- The Effect of Lime and Potash on the Frog Heart: An Imaginative Reconstruction of a Paper Presented by Sydney Ringer to the Physiological Society on 9th December 1882.- Homology of Calcium-Modulated Proteins: Their Evolutionary and Functional Relationships.- 1 The Function of the Calcium Channel.- Kinetics, and ?-Adrenergic Modulation of Cardiac Ca2+ Channels.- Dihydropyridines, G Proteins, and Calcium Channels.- Electrophysiology of Dihydropyridine Ca Agonists.- Proton-Induced Transformation of Ca2+-Channel: Possible Mechanism and Physiological Role.- Membrane Potential and Dihydropyridine Block of Calcium Channels in the Heart: Influence of Drug Ionization on Blocking Activity.- Dihydropyrine-Sensitive and Insensitive Ca2+ Channels in Normal and Transformed Fibroblasts.- Protein Phosphorylation and the Inactivation of Dihydropyridine-Sensitive Calcium Channels in Mammalian Pituitary Tumor Cells.- Sodium Currents Through Neuronal Calcium Channels: Kinetics and Sensitivity to Calcium Antagonists.- Block of Sodium Currents Through a Neuronal Calcium Channel by External Calcium and Magnesium Ions.- The Voltage Sensor of Skeletal Muscle Excitation-Contraction Coupling: A Comparison with Ca2+ Channels.- 2 The Structure of the Calcium Channel.- Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology of Ca2+ Channels and Ca2+-Channel Blockers.- The Structure of the Ca2+ Channel: Photoaffinity Labeling and Tissue Distribution.- Site-Specific Phosphorylation of the Skeletal Muscle Receptor for Calcium-Channel Blockers by cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase.- Molecular Properties of Dihydropyridine-Sensitive Calcium Channels from Skeletal Muscle.- Molecular Characterization of the 1,4-Dihydropyridine Receptor in Skeletal Muscle.- Reconstitution of Solubilized and Purified Dihydropyridine Receptor from Skeletal Muscle Microsomes as Two Single Calcium-Channel Conductances with Different Functional Properties.- 1,4-Dihydropyridines as Modulators of Voltage-Dependent Calcium-Channel Acitivity.- Dihydropyridine Pharmacology of the Reconstituted Calcium Channel of Skeletal Muscle.- Expression of mRNA Encoding Rat Brain Ca2+ Channels in Xenopus Oocytes.- 3 Calcium Channels in the Cardiovascular and Endocrine System.- Ca2+ Pathways Mediating Agonist-Activated Contraction of Vascular Smooth Muscle and EDRF Release from Endothelium.- Calcium Channels and the Heart.- Role of Calcium Channels in Cardiac Arrythmias.- General Anaesthetics and Antiarrhythmics Antagonize the Ca2+ Current in Single Frog Cardiac Cells.- The Calcium Channel and Vascular Injury.- Endocrine Effects of Calcium Channel Agonists and Antagonists in a Pituitary Cell System.- L-Type Calcium Channels and Adrenomedullary Secretion.- Regulation of Signal Transduction by G Proteins in Exocrine Pancreas Cells.- Calcium Channel Blockers and Renin Secretion.- Action of Parathyroid Hormone on Calcium Transport in Rat Brain Synaptosomes is Independent of cAMP.- Calcium and the Mediation of Tubuloglomerular Feedback Signals.- Inhibition of Parathyroid Hormone Secretion by Calcium: The Role of Calcium Channels.- 4 Neuropharmacology of Calcium-Channels.- The Neuropharmacology of Ca2+ Channels.- Kinetic Characteristics of Different Calcium Channels in the Neuronal Membrane.- Increased Calcium Currents in Rat Hippocampal Neurons During Aging.- Regulation of Brain 1,4-Dihydropyridine Receptors by Drug Treatment.- Nimodipine and Neural Plasticity in the Peripheral Nervous System of Adult and Aged Rats.- Anticonvulsant Properties of Dihydropyridine Calcium Antagonists.- Interaction Between Certain Antipsychotic Drugs and Dihydropyridine Receptor Sites.- Effects of Organic Calcium-Entry Blockers on Stimulus-Induced Changes in Extracellular Calcium Concentration in Area CA 1 of Rat Hippocampal Slices.- Alcohol, Neurodegenerative Disorders and Calcium-Channel Antagonist Receptors.- 5 Endogenous Ligands and Antibodies.- Endogenous Ligands for the Calcium Channel: Myths and Realities.- Endogenous 1,4-Dihydropyridine-Displacing Substances Acting on L-Type Ca2+ Channels: Isolation and Characterization of Fractions from Brain and Stomach.- Endothelium-Derived Novel Vasoconstrictor Peptide Endothelin: A Possible Endogenous Agonist for Voltage-Dependent Ca2+ Channels.- Calcium-Channel Antibodies: Subunit-Specific Antibodies as Probes for Structure and Function.- Endogenous Ligands for Voltage-Sensitive Calcium Channels in Extracts of Rat and Bovine Brain.- An Endogenous Purified Peptide Modulates Ca2+ Channels in Neurons and Cardiac Myocytes.- Antibodies Against the ADP/ATP Carrier Interact with the Calcium Channel and Induce Cytotoxicity by Enhancement of Calcium Permeability.- Calcium, Aging and Disease.- Calcium, Aging and Diseases.