Evaluation of a novel method for measurement of intracellular calcium ion concentration in fission yeast

The distribution of metal and metalloid species in each of the cell compartments is termed as “metallome”. It is important to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the beneficial or toxic effects exerted by a given metal or metalloid on human health. Therefore, we developed a method to measure intracellular metal ion concentration (particularly, intracellular calcium ion) in fission yeast. We evaluated the effects of nitric acid (HNO3), zymolyase, and westase treatment on cytolysis in fission yeast. Moreover, we evaluated the changes in the intracellular calcium ion concentration in fission yeast in response to treatment with/without micafungin. The fission yeast undergoes lysis when treated with 60% HNO3, which is simpler and cheaper compared to the other treatments. Additionally, the intracellular calcium ion concentration in 60% HNO3-treated fission yeast was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. This study yields significant information pertaining to measurement of the intracellular calcium ion concentration in fission yeast, which is useful for elucidating the physiological or pathological functions of calcium ion in the biological systems. This study is the first step to obtain perspective view on the effect of the metallome in biological systems.