Abstract
The effect of extracellular calcium on the intracellular calcium level of newborn rat skin basal cells was examined. The intracellular calcium level of basal cells was affected by the extracellular calcium concentration on culture of the cells on a collagen-coated filter, but not on a plate. The intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) of cells on a collagen-coated filter with 0.05mM external CaCl2 was 15nM and increased to 20-22nM on culture with 2.0mM extracellular CaCl2. From these results we concluded that the culture matrix (e.g. culture plates, or collagen-coated filters) affects the response of the basal cells to changes in the extracellular calcium content.The intracellular calcium level of Swiss 3T3 cells cultured both on plates and collagen-coated filters were affected by the extracellular calcium concentration. Their [Ca2+]i was determined as 49-50nM in the presence of 0.05mM external CaCl2, and 54-56nM in the presence of 2.0mM CaCl2. These different responses to extracellular Ca2+ may be due to differences in the proliferative profiles of basal cells and fibroblasts.
