Calyculin A blocks bovine chromaffin cell calcium channels independently of phosphatase inhibition.

ABSTRACT

The specific phosphatase inhibitor, Calyculin-A (CL-A), decreases high-K stimulated catecholamine secretion in bovine chromaffin cells. This effect can be split into two components one needs long exposures to the drug to be elicited, and is sensitive to the protein kinase-inhibitor K252a; the other is observed after short incubations of CL-A, and is insensitive to K252a. Here we report that the latter component is due to an external block, by CL-A, of chromaffin cell calcium channels in a voltage-dependent, reversible and phosphorylation-independent manner.