Effect of carvedilol on Ca2+ movement and cytotoxicity in human MG63 osteosarcoma cells

Carvedilol is a useful cardiovascular drug for treating heart failure, however, the in vitro effect on many cell types is unclear. In human MG63 osteosarcoma cells, the effect of carvedilol on intracellular Ca2+ concentrations (Ca2+]i) and cytotoxicity was explored by using fura-2 and tetrazolium, respectively. Carvedilol at concentrations greater than 1 microM caused a rapid rise in Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner (EC50=15 microM). Carvedilol-induced Ca2+]i rise was reduced by 60% by removal of extracellular Ca2+. Carvedilol-induced Mn2+-associated quench of intracellular fura-2 fluorescence also suggests that carvedilol induced extracellular Ca2+ influx. In Ca2+-free medium, thapsigargin, an inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, caused a monophasic Ca2+]i rise, after which the increasing effect of carvedilol on Ca2+]i was inhibited by 50%. Conversely, pretreatment with carvedilol to deplete intracellular Ca2+ stores totally prevented thapsigargin from releasing more Ca2+. U73122, an inhibitor of phospholipase C, abolished histamine (an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent Ca2+ mobilizer)-induced, but not carvedilol-induced, Ca2+]i rise. Pretreatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and forskolin to activate protein kinase C and adenylate cyclase, respectively, did not alter carvedilol-induced Ca2+]i rise. Separately, overnight treatment with 0.1-30 microM carvedilol inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings suggest that in human MG63 osteosarcoma cells, carvedilol increases Ca2+]i by stimulating extracellular Ca2+ influx and also by causing intracellular Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum and other stores via a phospholipase C-independent manner. Carvedilol may be cytotoxic to osteoblasts.