scholarly journals Effect of the calcium buffer EGTA on the "hump" component of charge movement in skeletal muscle.

1991 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 885-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
J García ◽  
G Pizarro ◽  
E Ríos ◽  
E Stefani

Three manifestations of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling were measured in cut skeletal muscle fibers of the frog, voltage clamped in a double Vaseline gap: intramembrane charge movements, myoplasmic Ca2+ transients, and changes in optical transparency. Pulsing patterns in the presence of high [EGTA] intracellularly, shown by García et al. (1989. J. Gen. Physiol. 94:973-986) to deplete Ca2+ in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, were found to change the above manifestations. With an intracellular solution containing 15 mM EGTA and 0 Ca, 10-15 pulses (100 ms) to -20 mV at a frequency of 2 min-1 reduced the "hump" component of charge movement current. This effect was reversible by 5 min of rest. The same effect was obtained in 62.5 mM EGTA and 0 Ca by pulsing at 0.2 min-1. This effect was reversible by adding calcium to the EGTA solution, for a nominal [Ca2+]i of 200 nM, and was prevented by adding calcium to the EGTA solution before pulsing. The suppression of the hump was accompanied by elimination of the optical manifestations of E-C coupling. The current suppressed was found by subtraction and had the following properties: delayed onset, a peak at a variable interval (10-20 ms) into the pulse, a negative phase (inward current) after the peak, and a variable OFF transient that could be multi-phasic and carried less charge than the ON transient. In the previous paper (Csernoch et al., 1991. J. Gen. Physiol. 97:845-884) it was shown that several interventions suppress a similar component of charge movement current, identified with the "hump" or Q gamma current (I gamma). Based on the similarity to that component, the charge movement suppressed by the depletion protocols can also be identified with I gamma. The fact that I gamma is suppressed by Ca2+ depletion and the kinetic properties of the charge suppressed is inconsistent with the existence of separate sets of voltage sensors underlying the two components of charge movement, Q beta and Q gamma. This is explicable if Q gamma is a consequence of calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth W. Stephenson

Excitation–contraction (E–C) coupling in skeletal muscle can be studied in skinned fibers by direct assay of 45Ca efflux and simultaneous isometric force, under controlled conditions. Recent work provides evidence that such studies can address major current questions about the mechanisms of signal transmission between transverse tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release, as well as operation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum active Ca transport system in situ. Stimulation by imposed ion gradients at constant [K+][Cl−] product results in 45Ca release with two components: a large Ca2+-dependent efflux, responsible for contractile activation, and a small Ca2+-insensitive efflux. The Ca2+-insensitive stimulation is sustained, consistent with sustained depolarization, and appears to gradate the Ca2+-dependent stimulation; this component is likely to reflect intermediate steps in E–C coupling. Several lines of evidence suggest that the depolarizing stimulus acts on the transverse tubules. It is inhibited by the impermeant glycoside ouabain applied before skinning, which should specifically inhibit polarization of subsequently sealed transverse tubules. Sealed polarized transverse tubules also are the only plausible target for stimulation of 45Ca release by monensin and gramicidin D, which can rapidly dissipate Na+ and K+ gradients; a protonophore and the K+-specific ionophore valinomycin are ineffective, lonophore stimulation is prevented by the permeant glycoside digitoxin; it is also highly Ca2+ dependent. Stimulation of 45Ca release by imposed ion gradients is potentiated by perchlorate, which potentiates charge movements and activation in intact fibers, and is inhibited selectively in highly stretched fibers, presumably by transverse tubule – sarcoplasmic reticulum uncoupling. These results relate the Ca2+-dependent sarcoplasmic reticulum efflux channel to the physiological transverse tubule – sarcoplasmic reticulum coupling pathway, which also could involve Ca2+.


1988 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 601-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Csernoch ◽  
C L Huang ◽  
G Szucs ◽  
L Kovacs

The effects of tetracaine on charge movements and on antipyrylazo III signals monitoring intracellular delta [Ca2+] were compared in cut frog semitendinosus muscle fibers in a single vaseline gap-voltage clamp. Low tetracaine concentrations (25-40 microM) markedly reduced delta [Ca2+] signals and shifted the rheobase. However, they neither influenced charge movement nor that peak delta [Ca2+] value associated with the contractile threshold. Higher tetracaine concentrations (100-200 microM) partly inhibited charge movements in cut fibers. They separated a steeply voltage-sensitive charge, some of whose features resembled 'q gamma' reported in intact fibers, and whose movement preceded delta [Ca2+] signals at threshold. These findings: (a) directly confirm an earlier suggestion that tetracaine acts on steps in excitation-contraction coupling rather than myofilament activation; (b) show that tetracaine at low concentrations can directly interfere with sarcoplasmic reticular calcium release without modifying charge movement; (c) show that the tetracaine-sensitive charge, first found in intact fibers, also exists in cut fibers; and (d) make it unlikely that tetracaine-sensitive charge transfer is a consequence of Ca2+ release as suggested on earlier occasions.


1993 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Ríos ◽  
M Karhanek ◽  
J Ma ◽  
A González

A contact interaction is proposed to exist between the voltage sensor of the transverse tubular membrane of skeletal muscle and the calcium release channel of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This interaction is given a quantitative formulation inspired in the Monod, Wyman, and Changeux model of allosteric transitions in hemoglobin (Monod, J., J. Wyman, and J.-P. Changeux. 1965. Journal of Molecular Biology. 12:88-118), and analogous to one proposed by Marks and Jones for voltage-dependent Ca channels (Marks, T. N., and S. W. Jones. 1992. Journal of General Physiology. 99:367-390). The allosteric protein is the calcium release channel, a homotetramer, with two accessible states, closed and open. The kinetics and equilibrium of this transition are modulated by voltage sensors (dihydropyridine receptors) pictured as four units per release channel, each undergoing independent voltage-driven transitions between two states (resting and activating). For each voltage sensor that moves to the activating state, the tendency of the channel to open increases by an equal (large) factor. The equilibrium and kinetic equations of the model are solved and shown to reproduce well a number of experimentally measured relationships including: charge movement (Q) vs. voltage, open probability of the release channel (Po) vs. voltage, the transfer function relationship Po vs. Q, and the kinetics of charge movement, release activation, and deactivation. The main consequence of the assumption of allosteric coupling is that primary effects on the release channel are transmitted backward to the voltage sensor and give secondary effects. Thus, the model reproduces well the effects of perchlorate, described in the two previous articles, under the assumption that the primary effect is to increase the intrinsic tendency of the release channel to open, with no direct effects on the voltage sensor. This modification of the open-closed equilibrium of the release channel causes a shift in the equilibrium dependency of charge movement with voltage. The paradoxical slowing of charge movement by perchlorate also results from reciprocal effects of the channel on the allosterically coupled voltage sensors. The observations of the previous articles plus the simulations in this article constitute functional evidence of allosteric transmission.


1991 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 913-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Pizarro ◽  
L Csernoch ◽  
I Uribe ◽  
M Rodríguez ◽  
E Ríos

Asymmetric membrane currents and fluxes of Ca2+ release were determined in skeletal muscle fibers voltage clamped in a Vaseline-gap chamber. The conditioning pulse protocol 1 for suppressing Ca2+ release and the "hump" component of charge movement current (I gamma), described in the first paper of this series, was applied at different test pulse voltages. The amplitude of the current suppressed during the ON transient reached a maximum at slightly suprathreshold test voltages (-50 to -40 mV) and decayed at higher voltages. The component of charge movement current suppressed by 20 microM tetracaine also went through a maximum at low pulse voltages. This anomalous voltage dependence is thus a property of I gamma, defined by either the conditioning protocol or the tetracaine effect. A negative (inward-going) phase was often observed in the asymmetric current during the ON of depolarizing pulses. This inward phase was shown to be an intramembranous charge movement based on (a) its presence in the records of total membrane current, (b) its voltage dependence, with a maximum at slightly suprathreshold voltages, (c) its association with a "hump" in the asymmetric current, (d) its inhibition by interventions that reduce the "hump", (e) equality of ON and OFF areas in the records of asymmetric current presenting this inward phase, and (f) its kinetic relationship with the time derivative of Ca release flux. The nonmonotonic voltage dependence of the amplitude of the hump and the possibility of an inward phase of intramembranous charge movement are used as the main criteria in the quantitative testing of a specific model. According to this model, released Ca2+ binds to negatively charged sites on the myoplasmic face of the voltage sensor and increases the local transmembrane potential, thus driving additional charge movement (the hump). This model successfully predicts the anomalous voltage dependence and all the kinetic properties of I gamma described in the previous papers. It also accounts for the inward phase in total asymmetric current and in the current suppressed by protocol 1. According to this model, I gamma accompanies activating transitions at the same set of voltage sensors as I beta. Therefore it should open additional release channels, which in turn should cause more I gamma, providing a positive feedback mechanism in the regulation of calcium release.


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