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The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2167-2175 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00380

Molecular characterisation of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase of Porcellio scaber and its expression in sternal epithelia during the moult cycle

Monica Hagedorn¹, Dirk Weihrauch², David W. Towle³ and Andreas Ziegler^1,*

¹ Z.E. Elektronenmikroskopie, Universität Ulm, 89096 Ulm, Germany
² Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
³ Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salsbury Cove, ME 04672, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: andreas.ziegler{at}medizin.uni-ulm.de)

Accepted 20 March 2003

The anterior sternal epithelial cells of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber transport large amounts of calcium during the formation and resorption of intermittent calcium carbonate deposits. Recent investigations on epithelia involved in mineralisation processes suggest a role of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase (SERCA) in transcellular calcium transport. We present the first molecular characterisation of a SERCA within a crustacean mineralising epithelium. We cloned the SERCA from a cDNA library of the anterior sternal epithelium and used in situ hybridisation to compare the expression of the SERCA mRNA between three different moulting stages. The full-length SERCA cDNA has an open reading frame of 3006 nucleotides. The deduced 1002 amino-acid polypeptide has a predicted molecular mass of 109.7 kDa and 87% identity to the SERCA of Procambarus clarkii axial muscle isoform. In situ hybridisation confirmed expression within the anterior sternal epithelium and revealed an increase in SERCA mRNA abundance from the non-transporting, early premoult stage to the calcium transporting, late premoult and intramoult stage. The results support previous indications of a contribution by the smooth endoplasmic reticulum to transcellular calcium transport and suggest a transcriptional regulation of SERCA activity.

Key words: Porcellio scaber, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Ca²⁺-ATPase, SERCA, biomineralisation, Isopoda, Crustacea, epithelial calcium transport

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