Comparison of regulated passive membrane conductance in action potential-firing fast- and slow-twitch muscle.

In several pathological and experimental conditions, the passive membrane conductance of muscle fibers (G(m)) and their excitability are inversely related. Despite this capacity of G(m) to determine muscle excitability, its regulation in active muscle fibers is largely unexplored. In this issue, our previous study (Pedersen et al.

Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-dependent facilitation of the ATP-dependent secretory activity in mouse pituitary cells.

Phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P(2)] has been implicated in the priming of large dense-core vesicles in many secretory cells; however, its role in the Ca(2+)-dependent secretory activity in pituitary cells remains elusive. We assessed the effect of elevated intracellular PI(4,5)P(2) on the kinetics of Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis, using a whole-cell patch-clamp technique in wild-type mouse melanotrophs from fresh pituitary tissue slices. We found that 1 micromol/L PI(4,5)P(2) significantly increased Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis of vesicles that need to go through ATP-dependent reactions; however, the exocytosis of release-ready vesicles (ATP-independent release) and voltage-activated Ca(2+) currents remained unaffected.