Does the inositol tris/tetrakisphosphate pathway exist in rat heart?

Appearance of two isomers of inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) was observed when [3H]inositol prelabelled rat heart ventricles were stimulated for 10 and 30 s with noradrenaline. In contrast, inositol tetrakisphosphate (InsP4) could not be detected. However the existence of the inositol tris/tetrakisphosphate pathway was demonstrated by studying [3H]inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins-1,4,5-P3) metabolism in a soluble fraction of rat heart. There, [3H]Ins-1,4,5-P3 was phosphorylated to form [3H]Ins-1,3,4,5-P4. Raising [Ca2+] from 1 nM to 1 microM increased InsP3 kinase activity by 2-fold (EC50 for Ca2+ approx. 56 nM). This effect appeared to be due to an increase of the apparent Vmax of the enzyme while the apparent Km was unchanged.