Abstract
The ability to undergo physiological adaptations to stress is critical to life. An important aspect of this stress response is the release of catecholamines from adrenal medullary chromaffin cells into the circulation. This secretion is caused by a rise in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in response to several physiological stimuli. Increasing evidence suggests that the adrenal medullary anatomical organisation and cell interconnectivity contributes greatly to this [Ca2+]i. The current study thus aimed to characterise this stress response by examining the stimulus-dependent [Ca2+]i changes in individual chromaffin cells within rat adrenal slices. Adrenal vibratome sections were prepared from adult male Sprague Dawley rats, loaded with the Ca2+-indicator Fluo-4, and changes in [Ca2+]i recorded from individual cells using fluorescence microscopy.