Ion microscopy evidence that la3+ releases calcium from the golgi complex in llc-pk1 cells. Zha, Xiaohui, and George H. Morrison. Department of Chemistry, Baker Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
APStracts 2:0170C, 1995.
The effect of La3+ on LLC-PK1 cells was investigated by ion microscopy, a mass spectrometry based technique with a spatial resolution of 0.5 [mu]m. Cells were incubated with LaCl3 for 10 min. (1 mM) or 30 min (0.1 mM), and intracellular calcium distributions were measured with a Cameca IMS-3f ion microscope in cryogenically prepared cells. Compared to control cells, La3+ reduced total calcium in the Golgi complex by more than 100 [mu]M in both treatments, while other cellular regions, such as the nucleus and cytoplasm, remained largely unchanged. These two treatments were repeated on cells that were pre-incubated with 1 mM ouabain. The presence of ouabain in the medium increased the loss of calcium from the Golgi by about 4-fold as compared to the treatments without ouabain. The La3+ effect, therefore, was amplified by ouabain induced Na+ loading, indicating a possible involvement of a Na+/La3+ exchanger. Lanthanum was detected within cells, and its influx was facilitated by Na+ loading. These results suggest that La3+ may affect cellular calcium homeostasis by actions other than as a simple calcium antagonist.

Received 10 August 1994; accepted in final form 5 April 1995.
APS Manuscript Number C489-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 25 April 1995.