Calcium binding capacity of the cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum of mouse pancreatic acinar cells

1. The droplet technique was used in this study to measure total calcium loss from pancreatic acinar cells due to calcium extrusion. The calcium binding capacity of the cytosol (k(c)) was measured as the ratio of the decrease in the total calcium concentration of the cytosol of the cell (Delta[Ca](c)) and the synchronously occurring decrease in the free calcium ion concentration in the cytosol (Delta[Ca2+](c)). The calcium dependency of the calcium binding capacity was determined by plotting values of k(c) against the corresponding [Ca2+](c). The rise in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration of pancreatic acinar cells was triggered by stimulation with a supramaximal dose of cholecystokinin (CCK). The recovery of [Ca2+](c) during continued exposure to the agonist was due to calcium extrusion from the cell. 2. The calcium binding capacity was about 1500-200 for the [Ca2+](c) range 150-500 nM. The mechanism of buffering was not investigated in this study. The calcium binding capacity of the cytosol did not vary significantly with [Ca2+](c) in this range. The CCK-evoked decrease in the total calcium concentration in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) can be estimated from our data, taking into account previously published values for the volume of the ER in pancreatic acinar cells. Comparing the decrease in the total ER calcium concentration with our recently reported values for agonist-induced reductions in the free Ca2+ concentration inside the ER, we estimate that the calcium binding capacity of the ER is approximately 20. In pancreatic acinar cells we have therefore found a difference of two orders of magnitude in the efficiency of calcium buffering in the cytosol and the ER lumen.