scholarly journals Electrical models of excitation-contraction coupling and charge movement in skeletal muscle.

1980 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
R T Mathias ◽  
R A Levis ◽  
R S Eisenberg

The consequences of ionic current flow from the T system to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of skeletal muscle are examined. The Appendix analyzes a simple model in which the conductance gx, linking T system and SR, is in series with a parallel resistor and capacitor having fixed values. The conductance gx is supposed to increase rapidly with depolarization and to decrease slowly with repolarization. Nonlinear transient currents computed from this model have some of the properties of gating currents produced by intramembrane charge movement. In particular, the integral of the transient current upon depolarization approximates that upon repolarization. Thus, equality of nonlinear charge movement can occur without intramembrane charge movement. A more complicated model is used in the text to fit the structure of skeletal muscle and other properties of its charge movement. Rectification is introduced into gx and the membrane conductance of the terminal cisternae to give asymmetry in the time-course of the transient currents and saturation in the curve relating charge movement to depolarization, respectively. The more complex model fits experimental data quite well if the longitudinal tubules of the sarcoplasmic reticulum are isolated from the terminal cisternae by a substantial resistance and if calcium release from the terminal cisternae is, for the most part, electrically silent. Specific experimental tests of the model are proposed, and the implications for excitation-contraction coupling are discussed.

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 686-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Eisenberg

Every eukaryotic cell contains systems linking the extracellular space and internal membrane compartments. These systems allow cells to communicate and, ultimately they allow the nervous system to control most of the cytoplasmic activity. In skeletal muscle, this system is called "excitation–contraction coupling." While much is known of the early and late steps in coupling, the critical link between the cell (i.e., here the T system) membrane and sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane is not known. Electrical coupling cannot easily account for experimental results; here we show that the Ca2+ influx is not causally related to the excitation–contraction coupling. The most likely mechanism seems to be a variant of the "remote control model" in which a voltage change and accompanying charge movement in the T membrane activates an enzyme tethered to the cytoplasmic leaflet of the T membrane but spanning part of the T – sarcoplasmic reticulum gap.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 400-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Vlahovich ◽  
Anthony J. Kee ◽  
Chris Van der Poel ◽  
Emma Kettle ◽  
Delia Hernandez-Deviez ◽  
...  

The functional diversity of the actin microfilaments relies in part on the actin binding protein tropomyosin (Tm). The muscle-specific Tms regulate actin-myosin interactions and hence contraction. However, there is less known about the roles of the numerous cytoskeletal isoforms. We have shown previously that a cytoskeletal Tm, Tm5NM1, defines a Z-line adjacent cytoskeleton in skeletal muscle. Recently, we identified a second cytoskeletal Tm in this region, Tm4. Here we show that Tm4 and Tm5NM1 define separate actin filaments; the former associated with the terminal sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and other tubulovesicular structures. In skeletal muscles of Tm5NM1 knockout (KO) mice, Tm4 localization was unchanged, demonstrating the specificity of the membrane association. Tm5NM1 KO muscles exhibit potentiation of T-system depolarization and decreased force rundown with repeated T-tubule depolarizations consistent with altered T-tubule function. These results indicate that a Tm5NM1-defined actin cytoskeleton is required for the normal excitation–contraction coupling in skeletal muscle.


Physiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 281-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. Hamilton ◽  
Irina Serysheva ◽  
Gale M. Strasburg

Excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac and skeletal muscle involves the transverse-tubule voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel and the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release channel. Both of these ion channels bind and are modulated by calmodulin in both its Ca2+-bound and Ca2+-free forms. Calmodulin is, therefore, potentially an important regulator of excitation-contraction coupling. Its precise role, however, has not yet been defined.


1991 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Szücs ◽  
Z Papp ◽  
L Csernoch ◽  
L Kovács

Intramembrane charge movement was measured on skeletal muscle fibers of the frog in a single Vaseline-gap voltage clamp. Charge movements determined both under polarized conditions (holding potential, VH = -100 mV; Qmax = 30.4 +/- 4.7 nC/micro(F), V = -44.4 mV, k = 14.1 mV; charge 1) and in depolarized states (VH = 0 mV; Qmax = 50.0 +/- 6.7 nC/micro(F), V = -109.1 mV, k = 26.6 mV; charge 2) had properties as reported earlier. Linear capacitance (LC) of the polarized fibers was increased by 8.8 +/- 4.0% compared with that of the depolarized fibers. Using control pulses measured under depolarized conditions to calculate charge 1, a minor change in the voltage dependence (to V = -44.6 mV and k = 14.5 mV) and a small increase in the maximal charge (to Qmax = 31.4 +/- 5.5 nC/micro(F] were observed. While in most cases charge 1 transients seemed to decay with a single exponential time course, charge 2 currents showed a characteristic biexponential behavior at membrane potentials between -90 and -180 mV. The voltage dependence of the rate constant of the slower component was fitted with a simple constant field diffusion model (alpha m = 28.7 s-1, V = -124.0 mV, and k = 15.6 mV). The midpoint voltage (V) was similar to that obtained from the Q-V fit of charge 2, while the steepness factor (k) resembled that of charge 1. This slow component could also be isolated using a stepped OFF protocol; that is, by hyperpolarizing the membrane to -190 mV for 200 ms and then coming back to 0 mV in two steps. The faster component was identified as an ionic current insensitive to 20 mM Co2+ but blocked by large hyperpolarizing pulses. These findings are consistent with the model implying that charge 1 and the slower component of charge 2 interconvert when the holding potential is changed. They also explain the difference previously found when comparing the steepness factors of the voltage dependence of charge 1 and charge 2.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 1207-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarete M. Trachez ◽  
R. Takashi Sudo ◽  
G. Suarez-Kurtz

Denervation potentiated the cooling-induced contractures and the halothane-cooling contractures of isolated extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles of the mouse. These effects were more striking in extensor digitorum longus than in soleus muscles. Significant increases in the peak amplitudes of the halothane-cooling contractures of both muscles and of the cooling contractures of soleus muscle were observed within 2 and 7 days of denervation. The potentiation of the contractures persisted for 90 days, the period of this study. Denervation (>2 days) endowed extensor digitorum longus with the ability to generate cooling contractures in the absence of halothane. The rate of tension development of cooling-induced contractures in the absence or presence of halothane was significantly greater in denervated (2–90 days) than in innervated muscles. Denervation also reduced the effectiveness of procaine in inhibiting the halothane-cooling contractures. It is proposed that the potentiation of cooling-induced contractures in denervated muscles results primarily from an increase in the rate of efflux and in the quantity of Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, upon cooling and (or) when challenged with halothane.Key words: denervation, excitation–contraction coupling, halothane, cooling-induced contractures, skeletal muscle.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Stroffekova

Ca2+-dependent modulation via calmodulin, with consensus CaM-binding IQ motif playing a key role, has been documented for most high-voltage-activated Ca2+channels. The skeletal muscle Cav1.1 also exhibits Ca2+-/CaM-dependent modulation. Here, whole-cell Ca2+current, Ca2+transient, and maximal, immobilization-resistant charge movement(Qmax)recordings were obtained from cultured mouse myotubes, to test a role of IQ motif in function of Cav1.1. The effect of introducing mutation (IQ to AA) of IQ motif into Cav1.1 was examined. In dysgenic myotubes expressing YFP-Cav1.1AA, neither Ca2+currents nor evoked Ca2+transients were detectable. The loss of Ca2+current and excitation-contraction coupling did not appear to be a consequence of defective trafficking to the sarcolemma. TheQmaxin dysgenic myotubes expressing YFP-Cav1.1AAwas similar to that of normal myotubes. These findings suggest that the IQ motif of the Cav1.1 may be an unrecognized site of structural and functional coupling between DHPR and RyR.


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