Does Ca2+ reach millimolar concentrations after single photon absorption in Drosophila photoreceptor microvilli?

Biophys J. 1999 Oct;77(4):1811-23. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(99)77026-8.

Abstract

The quantum bump, the elementary event of fly phototransduction induced by the absorption of a single photon, is a small, transient current due to the opening of cation-channels permeable to Ca2+. These channels are located in small, tube-like protrusions of the cell membrane, the microvilli. Using a modeling approach, we calculate the changes of free Ca2+ concentration inside the microvilli, taking into account influx and diffusion of Ca2+. Independent of permeability ratios and Ca2+ buffering, we find that the free Ca2+ concentrations rise to millimolar values, as long as we assume that all activated channels are located in a single microvillus. When we assume that as much as 25 microvilli participate in a single bump, the free Ca2+ concentration still reaches values higher than 80 microM. These very high concentrations show that the microvilli of fly photoreceptors are unique structures in which the Ca2+ signaling is even more extreme than in calcium concentration microdomains very close to Ca2+ channels.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Buffers
  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Calcium Channels / metabolism
  • Calcium Signaling
  • Calmodulin / metabolism
  • Cell Membrane Permeability
  • Diffusion
  • Drosophila melanogaster / cytology*
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Membrane Potentials
  • Microvilli / metabolism*
  • Photons*
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / cytology
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / metabolism*
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / ultrastructure
  • Time Factors
  • Vision, Ocular*

Substances

  • Buffers
  • Calcium Channels
  • Calmodulin
  • Calcium