Nifedipine-activated Ca2+ permeability in newborn rat cortical collecting duct cells in primary culture

To characterize Ca2+ transport in newborn rat cortical collecting duct (CCD) cells, we used nifedipine, which in adult rat distal tubules inhibits the intracellular Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i) increase in response to hormonal activation. We found that the dihydropyridine (DHP) nifedipine (20 μM) produced an increase in [Ca2+]i from 87.6 ± 3.3 nM to 389.9 ± 29.0 nM in 65% of the cells. Similar effects of other DHP (BAY K 8644, isradipine) were also observed. Conversely, DHPs did not induce any increase in [Ca2+]i in cells obtained from proximal convoluted tubule. In CCD cells, neither verapamil nor diltiazem induced any rise in [Ca2+]i. Experiments in the presence of EGTA showed that external Ca2+ was required for the nifedipine effect, while lanthanum (20 μM), gadolinium (100 μM), and diltiazem (20 μM) inhibited the effect. Experiments done in the presence of valinomycin resulted in the same nifedipine effect, showing that K+ channels were not involved in the nifedipine-induced [Ca2+]i rise. H2O2also trig...