| Abstract: | The effect of the antidepressant sertraline on cytosolic-free Ca2+ concentrations (Ca2+]i) in Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells is unclear. This study explored whether sertraline changed basal Ca2+]i levels in suspended MDCK cells by using fura-2 as a Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye. Sertraline at concentrations between 1and 100 μM increased Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner. The Ca2+ signal was reduced partly by removing extracellular Ca2+ implicating Ca2+ entry and release both contributed to the Ca2+]i rise. Sertraline induced Mn2+ influx, leading to quench of fura-2 fluorescence, suggesting Ca2+ influx. This Ca2+ influx was inhibited by suppression of phospholiapase A2 but not by store-operated Ca2+ channel blockers and protein kinase C/A modulators. In Ca2+-free medium, pretreatment with the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump inhibitors nearly abolished sertraline-induced Ca2+ release. Conversely, pretreatment with sertraline partly reduced inhibitor-induced Ca2+]i rise, suggesting that sertraline released Ca2+ from endoplasmic reticulum. Inhibition of phospholipase C did not much alter sertraline-induced Ca2+]i rise. Collectively, in MDCK cells, sertraline induced Ca2+]i rises by causing phospholipase C-independent Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum and Ca2+ influx via phospholipase A2-sensitive Ca2+ channels. |
