The Journal of General Physiology, Vol 107, 207-230, Copyright © 1996 by The Rockefeller University Press
Calcium dynamics and homeostasis in a mathematical model of the principal cell of the cortical collecting tubule
Y Tang and JL Stephenson
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Calcium (Ca) dynamics are incorporated into a mathematical model of the
principal cell in the cortical collecting tubule developed earlier in
Strieter et al. (1992a. Am. J Physiol. 263:F1063-1075). The Ca components
are modeled after the Othmer-Tang model for IP(3)-sensitive calcium
channels (1993, in Experimental and Theoretical Advances in Biological
Pattern Formation, 295-319). There are IP(3)-sensitive Ca channels and
ATP-driven pumps on the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. Calcium
enters the cell passively down its electrochemical gradient. A Ca pump and
Na/Ca exchange in the basolateral membrane are responsible for the
extrusion of cytoplasmic calcium. Na/Ca exchange can also operate in
reverse mode to transport Ca into the cell. Regulatory effects of
cytoplasmic Ca on the apical Na channels are modeled after experimental
data that indicate apical Na permeability varies inversely with cytoplasmic
Ca concentration. Numerical results on changes in intracellular Ca caused
by decreasing NaCl in the bath and the lumen are similar to those from
experiments in Bourdeau and Lau (1990. Am. J Physiol. 258:F1497-1503). This
match of simulation and experiment requires the synergistic action of the
Na/Ca exchanger and the Ca regulated apical Na permeability. In a
homogeneous medium, cytoplasmic Ca becomes oscillatory when extracellular
Na is severely decreased, as observed in experiments of cultured principal
cells (Koster, H., C. van Os and R. Bindels. 1993. Kidney Int.43:828-836).
This essentially pathological situation arises because the
hyperpolarization of membrane potential caused by Na-free medium increases
Ca influx into the cell, while the Na/Ca exchanger is inactivated by the
low extracellular Na and can no longer move Ca out of the cell effectively.
The raising of the total amount of intracellular Ca induces oscillatory Ca
movement between the cytoplasm and the endoplasmic reticulum. Ca
homeostasis is investigated under the condition of severe extracellular Ca
variations. As extracellular Ca is decreased, Ca regulation is greatly
impaired if Ca does not regulate apical ionic transport. The simulations
indicate that the Na/Ca exchanger alone has only limited regulatory
capacity. The Ca regulated apical sodium or potassium permeability are
essential for regulation of cytoplasmic Ca in the principal cell of the
cortical collecting tubule.