Figure 1.

SeNrs dose-dependently cause the generation of Ca²⁺ signals in cortical astrocytes through the mobilization of Ca²⁺ ions from the thapsigargin-sensitive pool of the endoplasmic reticulum. (A) Ca²⁺ signals of astrocytes to the addition of various concentrations of SeNrs. Ca²⁺ responses of astrocytes to SeNrs averaged over several tens of cells are presented. (B) Dependence of the amplitude of Ca²⁺ responses of astrocytes on the growth of SeNrs concentration and its approximation by a sigmoid function. To plot dose dependencies, we used the results of Ca²⁺-dynamic measurements on three independent cell cultures. (C) Ca²⁺ signal generation by cortical astrocytes upon application of 5 μg/mL SeNrs in a calcium-free medium. (D) Suppression of Ca²⁺ signals of astrocytes upon application of 5 µg/mL SeNrs after depletion of Ca²⁺ stores in the endoplasmic reticulum with 10 µM thapsigargin (TG). F340/F380—The ratio of Fura-2 fluorescence in the 340 nm registration channel to the 380 nm fluorescence registration channel. Panels (C,D) show the Ca²⁺ signals of astrocytes in one experiment and their average value (bold red curve).