Quantification and Localization of Intracellular FreeMg2+ in Bovine Chromaffin Cells

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Abstract
Magnesium is an essential element for all living systems. The quantification of free intracellular Mg2+ concentration () is of utmost importance since changes in its basal value may be an indication of different pathologies due to abnormalities of Mg2+ metabolism. In this work we used  31P NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy to determine the resting in bovine chromaffin cells, a neuron‐like cellular model, as well as confocal laser scanning microscopy to study the free Mg2+ spatial distribution in these cells.  31P NMR spectroscopy did not prove to be effective for the determination of in this particular case due to some special morphological and physiological properties of this cell type. A basal value of 0.551 ± 0.008 mM was found for these cells using fluorescence spectroscopy and the Mg2+‐sensitive probe furaptra; this value falls in the concentration range reported in the literature for neurons from different sources. This technique proved to be an accurate and sensitive tool to determine the .lntraceilular free Mg2+ seems to be essentially localized in the nucleus and around it, as shown by confocal microscopy with the Mg2+‐sensitive probe Magnesium Green. It was not possible to derive any conclusion about free Mg2+ localization inside the chromaffin granules and/or in the cytoplasm due to the lack of sufficient spatial resolution and to probe compartmentalization.

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