Figure 4

Changes of Cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ in the MLTC-1 and R2C cells after LV-calb2 or LV-siRNA-calb2 infection. The Ca²⁺ level was measured using X-Rhod-1 Calcium Imaging Kit. Intracellular Ca²⁺ was probed using X-Rhod-1 and images were captured every 1 min for 10 min. There was no visible change of signal strength in single cells during the time course, All experiments were repeated for three times. (A,C) The change of fluorescence intensity in the MLTC-1 cells infected with LV-calb2 or vector. The basal signal of Ca²⁺ in the LV-calb2 infected MLTC-1 cells was significantly stronger (p < 0.05), but the fluorescence intensity was not differently changed during 10 minutes of time-course. (B and E) The change of fluorescence intensity in the R2C cells infected with LV-siRNA-calb2 or vector. The basal signal of Ca²⁺ in the LV-siRNA-calb2 infected R2C cells was weaker (p < 0.05), but the fluorescence intensity was not differently changed during 10 minutes of time-course. (D and F) The signal intensities of those cells infected with LV-calb2 or LV-siRNA-calb2 at the time-point of 5 min were respectively compared with their controls. The intensity was significantly increased by the over-expression of calretinin in MLTC-1 cells (D, p < 0.05), while the intensity was decreased by the down-expression of calretinin in R2C cells (F, p < 0.05). *p < 0.05.