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A model for investigating effect of shock waves on intracellular calcium mobilization.

BACKGROUND
Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) has become a non-invasive standard treatment for urolithiasis; however, it has some unwanted bioeffects. A cell model using calcium (Ca) imaging of cultured Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells has been established in this laboratory to study the effects of shock waves on intracellular free Ca mobilization of renal tubular cells.


METHODS
Digital video imaging of fura-2 fluorescence was used to measure both resting and stimulated intracellular free Ca concentrations in single cultured MDCK cells. Pharmacological agents including adenosine-5'-trisphosphate (ATP), bradykinin and thapsigargin, were used as Ca mobilizing agents.


RESULTS
ATP, bradykinin and thapsigargin all elicited a robust transient increase in intracellular Ca concentration.


CONCLUSIONS
A cell model was established to investigate the effect of shock waves on single kidney cells. This provided an opportunity to determine how shock waves affect the regulation of intracellular Ca concentrations in kidney cells; in addition, it allows investigation, for the first time at the single cell level, of whether blocking Ca entry in kidney cells plays any role in the mechanism by which some Ca channel blockers, e.g. nifedipine and verapamil, protect patients of urolithiasis from shock wave-induced renal damage.