Characteristics of the hypoosmosis-induced calcium response in isolated nerve terminals of rat brain.

Background: Cerebral edema contributes significantly to morbidity and death in many common neurological disorders. Ca2+ ions play a important role in the development of pathophysiological reactions in nerve cells. The aim of our research was to elucidate the mechanism of the osmotically-induced entrance of Ca2+ into nerve terminals (synaptosomes) and to estimate the involvement of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores in intrasynaptosomal Ca2+-dependent processes in hypoosmotic swelling.