Ca2+ release from the envelope of isolated pancreatic acinar nuclei could be activated by nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) as well as by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR). Each of these agents reduced the Ca2+ concentration inside the nuclear envelope, and this was associated with a transient rise in the nucleoplasmic Ca2+ concentration. NAADP released Ca2+ from the same thapsigargin-sensitive pool as IP3. The NAADP action was specific because, for example, nicotineamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate was ineffective. The Ca2+ release was unaffected by procedures interfering with acidic organelles (bafilomycin, brefeldin, and nigericin). Ryanodine blocked the Ca2+-releasing effects of NAADP, cADPR, and caffeine, but not IP3. Ruthenium red also blocked the NAADP-elicited Ca2+ release. IP3 receptor blockade did not inhibit the Ca2+ release elicited by NAADP or cADPR. The nuclear envelope contains ryanodine and IP3 receptors that can be activated separately and independently; the ryanodine receptors by either NAADP or cADPR, and the IP3 receptors by IP3.

The effects of ER (endoplasmic reticulum) Ca2+ on cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations in pancreatic acinar cells were investigated using mathematical models of the Ca2+ oscillations. We first examined the mathematical model of SERCA (sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase) to reproduce the highly co-operative inhibitory effect of Ca2+ in the ER lumen on ER Ca2+ uptake in the acinar cells. The model predicts that luminal Ca2+ would most probably inhibit the conversion of the conformation state with luminal Ca2+-binding sites (E2) into the conformation state with cytoplasmic Ca2+-binding sites (E1). The SERCA model derived from this prediction showed dose-response relationships to cytosolic and luminal Ca2+ concentrations that were consistent with the experimental data from the acinar cells. According to a mathematical model of cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations based on the modified SERCA model, a small decrease in the concentration of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ (approx. 20% of the total) was sufficient to abolish the oscillations. When a single type of IP3R (IP3 receptor) was included in the model, store depletion decreased the spike frequency. However, the frequency became less sensitive to store depletion when we added another type of IP3R with higher sensitivity to the concentration of free Ca2+ in the cytosol. Bifurcation analysis of the mathematical model showed that the loss of Ca2+ from the ER lumen decreased the sensitivity of cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations to IP3 [Ins(1,4,5)P3]. The addition of a high-affinity IP3R did not alter this property, but significantly decreased the sensitivity of the spike frequency to IP3. Our mathematical model demonstrates how luminal Ca2+, through its effect on Ca2+ uptake, can control cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations.