Summary
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1.
Coupling mechanisms between ciliary beating and the membrane potential in Paramecium were investigated under voltage clamp applying intracellular pressure injection of cAMP, cGMP and Ca-EGTA buffer. Ciliary responses following step changes in membrane potential were recorded by high-speed video on magnetic tape.
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2.
Injections of cAMP and cGMP up to millimolar concentrations caused no detectable changes in the frequency voltage relationship. A minor effect was that the ciliary reorientation towards the anterior cell end (reversal) tended to be inhibited with depolarization up to 10 mV.
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3.
Injection of Ca2+ into the cell clamped at the resting potential caused a transient anteriad ciliary reorientation and a simultaneous increase in the beating frequency.
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4.
Injection of EGTA (to buffer Ca2+ below 10−8 M) was ineffective in relation to frequency for several minutes. After this time, hyperpolarization- and depolarization activated frequency responses of EGTA-injected cells were increasingly inhibited. The ciliary reorientation following depolarization was not affected by EGTA.
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5.
A posterior contraction of the cell diameter was noticed upon membrane hyperpolarization. The contraction coincided in time with the increase in beating frequency.
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6.
The results support the view that the voltage-dependent augmentation of the ciliary beating rate is not directly mediated by an intracellular increase in either cAMP or cGMP.
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7.
The role of Ca2+ as intracellular messenger in the ciliary and somatic compartments is discussed.
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Nakaoka, Y., Machemer, H. Effects of cyclic nucleotides and intracellular Ca on voltage-activated ciliary beating in Paramecium . J Comp Physiol A 166, 401–406 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00204813
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00204813