External calcium ions are required for potassium channel gating in squid neurons

The effects of calcium removal on the voltage-dependent potassium channels of isolated squid neurons were studied with whole cell patch-clamp techniques. When the calcium ion concentration was lowered from 10 to 0 millimolar (that is, no added calcium), potassium channel activity, identified from its characteristic time course, disappeared within a few seconds and there was a parallel increase in resting membrane conductance and in the holding current. The close temporal correlation of the changes in the three parameters suggests that potassium channels lose their ability to close in the absence of calcium and simultaneously lose their selectivity. If potassium channels were blocked by barium ion before calcium ion was removed, the increases in membrane conductance and holding current were delayed or prevented. Thus calcium is an essential cofactor in the gating of potassium channels in squid neurons.     

Strontium incorporation into dental enamel

Rats were raised on diets either rich or poor in strontium. Powder x-ray diffraction patterns suggest that isomorphous substitution of strontium for calcium occurs in the apatite of tooth enamel, and that strontium may form Sr(6)H(3)(PO(4)) * 2H(2)O, a compound hitherto unreported in biologic systems.     

Two distinct populations of calcium channels in a clonal line of pituitary cells

The whole-cell variant of the patch clamp technique was used to study calcium channels in GH3 cells. Two distinct populations of calcium channels, first recognized from their closing kinetics, were observed. The slowly closing channels are activated in a relatively negative voltage range and are inactivated within 100 milliseconds. They conduct barium and calcium about equally well. The fast closing channels are activated at more positive voltages, are not inactivated during a 100-millisecond pulse, conduct barium in preference to calcium, and are activated slightly more rapidly than the slowly closing channels.