Plasma membrane calcium pump and sodium–calcium exchanger in maintenance and control of calcium concentrations in platelets

The purpose of this research was to elucidate the activity of the mechanisms responsible for control of cytosolic calcium concentration in platelets by modeling the time-course of the concentration changing in response to discharge of the intracellular stores or store-operated calcium entry (SOCE). The parameters estimated as a result of model fitting to experimental data are related to physiological or pathological state of the cells. It has been shown that: (a) the time-course is determined by the passive calcium fluxes and activities of the corresponding mechanisms; (b) the decline in the concentration (after its rise) develops due to activity of plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA) both in the case of discharge of the stores of platelets contained in calcium-free medium and in the case of SOCE; (c) impulsive extrusion of calcium in response to its sudden influx, presumably, is the main function of PMCA; (d) the function of sodium–calcium exchanger (NCX) is to extrude calcium excess by permanent counteracting its influx.