{"doi":"10.1242/jcs.109.2.355","title":"Mechanical stimulation initiates cell-to-cell calcium signaling in ovine lens epithelial cells","abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Although abnormalities in calcium regulation have been implicated in the development of most forms of cataract, the mechanisms by which Ca2+ is regulated in the cells of the ocular lens remain poorly defined. Cell-to-cell Ca2+ signaling was investigated in primary cultures of ovine epithelial cells using the Ca2+-reporter dye fura-2 and fluorescence microscopy. Mechanical stimulation of a single cell with a micropipette initiated a propagated increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ that spread from the stimulated cell through 2-8 tiers of surrounding cells. During this intercellular Ca2+ wave, cytosolic Ca2+ increased 2-to 12-fold from resting levels of ∼100 nM. Nanomolar extracellular Ca2+ did not affect the cell-to-cell propagation of the Ca2+ wave, but reduced the magnitude of the cytosolic Ca2+ increases, which was most evident in the mechanicallystimulated cell. Depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores with thapsigargin eliminated the propagated intercellular Ca2+ wave, but did not prevent the cytosolic Ca2+ increase in the mechanically-stimulated cell, which required extracellular Ca2+ and was attenuated by the addition of the Ca2+channel blockers Ni2+, Gd3+ and La3+ to the medium. These results are most easily explained by a mechanicallyactivated channel in the plasma membrane of the stimulated cell. The propagated increase in cytosolic Ca2+ appeared to be communicated to adjacent cells by the passage of an intracellular messenger other than Ca2+ through gap junction channels. However, if the plasma membrane of the mechanically-stimulated cell was ruptured such that there was loss of cytosolic contents, the increase in cytosolic Ca2+ in the surrounding cells was elicited by both a messenger passing through gap junction channels and by a cytosolic factor(s) diffusing through the extracellular medium. These results demonstrate the existence of intercellular Ca2+ signaling in lens cells, which may play a role in regulating cytosolic Ca2+ in the intact lens.</jats:p>","journal":"Journal of Cell Science","year":1996,"id":24325,"datarank":4.587478094401634,"base_score":4.406719247264253,"endowment":4.406719247264253,"self_citation_contribution":0.6610078870896381,"citation_network_contribution":3.926470207311996,"self_endowment_contribution":0.6610078870896381,"citer_contribution":3.926470207311996,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":81,"citer_count":75,"citers_with_citation_signal":69,"citers_with_endowment":69,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":146335,"name":"Michael M. Atkinson","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":146336,"name":"Charles F. Louis","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":146334,"name":"Grant C. Churchill","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":4.406719247264253,"endowment":4.406719247264253,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"8838659","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2145038407","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"NEI NIH HHS","grant_id":"EY-05684","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":2.7498,"citation_percentile":0.91278604,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2012,"count":1},{"year":2013,"count":2},{"year":2014,"count":3},{"year":2015,"count":3},{"year":2016,"count":3},{"year":2017,"count":4},{"year":2019,"count":1},{"year":2020,"count":3},{"year":2021,"count":2},{"year":2025,"count":1},{"year":2026,"count":1}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://www.biologists.com/user-licence-1-1/","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/article-pdf/109/2/355/3329958/joces_109_2_355.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.109.2.355","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8838659","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/109/2/355","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Connexins and lens biology","Intraocular Surgery and Lenses","Ion Channels and Receptors","Animals","Calcium","Calcium Channel Blockers","Cell Communication","Cells, Cultured","Epithelial Cells","Eye","Gap Junctions","Physical Stimulation","Sheep","Signal Transduction"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Calcium","Calcium Channel Blockers","Cell Communication","Cells, Cultured","Epithelial Cells","Eye","Physical Stimulation","Sheep","Signal Transduction","Gap Junctions"],"keywords":["Intracellular","Cytosol","Extracellular","Thapsigargin","Cell biology","Biology","Second messenger system","Fura-2","Channel blocker","Cell membrane","Calcium","Calcium in biology","Cell","Biophysics","Stimulation","Biochemistry","Endocrinology","Internal medicine"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-06-07T22:08:35.942968Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}