External calcium can enter a cell through the voltage sensitive calcium channel. In non-neuronal cells as well as peripheral nerves, the depolarization induced uptake of calcium through these channels can be antagonized with the class of drugs called dihydropyridines eg. nitrendipine. We have shown that calcium uptake into primary cultures of cerebellar granule cells can be inhibited by nitrendipine and stimulated by BAY K 8663, a dihydropyridine agonist at the voltage sensitive calcium channel. Thus, this research confirms the prescense of a functional dihydropyridine, voltage sensitive channel in cells from the central nervous system.
