TY - JOUR T1 - 2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl Borane Activates a Novel Calcium-Permeable Cation Channel JF - Molecular Pharmacology JO - Mol Pharmacol SP - 1304 LP - 1311 DO - 10.1124/mol.63.6.1304 VL - 63 IS - 6 AU - Franz-Josef Braun AU - Omar Aziz AU - James W. Putney, Jr. Y1 - 2003/06/01 UR - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/63/6/1304.abstract N2 - The membrane-permeable, noncompetitive inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-receptor inhibitor 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borane (2-APB) has been widely used to probe for IP3-receptor involvement in calcium signaling pathways. However, a number of recent studies in different cell types revealed other sites of action of 2-APB. In this study, we examined the influence of 2-APB on capacitative calcium entry and intracellular Ca2+ concentrations in rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3 m1) cells. 2-APB was found to inhibit capacitative calcium entry, but at concentrations greater than 50 μM, a new effect of 2-APB was observed. When capacitative calcium entry was blocked with Gd3+, 2-APB caused an increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+. This increase in intracellular Ca2+ was not caused by altered buffering of cytoplasmic Ca2+ and was not caused by or in any way affected by the depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores. Associated with the increase in intracellular Ca2+, in the presence of 2 mM Ca2+, 2-APB activated single channels in the plasma membrane with a conductance of ∼50 pS. These channels seem to be nonselective cation channels; monovalent cations are the major carriers of current, but finite permeability to Ca2+ leads to a significant intracellular Ca2+ signal. Experiments with excised patches indicate that 2-APB activates these channels from the outer aspect of the cell membrane. This effect of 2-APB further illustrates the complex actions of this compound and reveals the presence in RBL-2H3 m1 cells of a novel, ligand-gated calcium-permeable channel. ER -