The properties and mechanisms of Ca release induced by thymol from the intracellular Ca-store in the guinea-pig taenia caecum were investigated and compared with those by carbachol, using an intact muscle and a microsomal fraction. In Ca, Na-free, EGTA-containing K-solution, a transient contraction was evoked by each drug, and carbachol produced the contraction following treatment with thymol; however, a reversed sequence did not. The efflux of preloaded
45Ca in the presence and absence of ATP from taenia microsomes was accerelated by increasing concentrations of Ca ions outside. The minimal concentration to stimulate
45Ca-efflux was below 0.2 μM in both cases, and the K
m values for Ca ions in the presence and absence of ATP were estimated to be 0.65 μM and 2.0 μM Ca ions, respectively. Thymol, which has been reported to be one of the most potent stimulators of the Ca-induced Ca release in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle, enhanced the
45Ca-efflux from the taenia microsomes in the presence of ATP dose-dependently, and its mode of action seemed bimodal. That is, at 0.5 mM, thymol lowered the concentration of Ca ions which are needed to induce stimulation of
45Ca-efflux, whereas, at 1 mM, the stimulative effect of thymol on
45Ca-efflux was to augment the maximum rate of
45Ca-efflux, independent of concentrations of Ca ions. Carbachol (1 mM) did not have an effect on
45Ca-efflux with or without 0.1 mM GTP. In conclusion, the possibility has been suggested that in the guinea-pig taenia caecum, carbachol might release stored Ca ions via unknown pathway(s), whereas thymol directly releases Ca ions in a ATP-regulated fashion. Further, carbachol would be more efficaceous for releasing stored Ca ions. Notwithstanding, the Ca-stores and/or the Ca-releasing mechanisms, which are utilized by both thymol and carbachol, seemed to share a common part(s) to some degree.
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