Small Ca2+ releases enable hour-long high-frequency contractions in midshipman swimbladder muscle

Type I males of the Pacific midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus) vibrate their swimbladder to generate mating calls, or “hums,” that attract females to their nests. In contrast to the intermittent calls produced by male Atlantic toadfish (Opsanus tau), which occur with a duty cycle (calling time divided by total time) of only 3–8%, midshipman can call continuously for up to an hour. With 100% duty cycles and frequencies of 50–100 Hz (15°C), the superfast muscle fibers that surround the midshipman swimbladder may contract and relax as many as 360,000 times in 1 h. The energy for this activity is supported by a large volume of densely packed mitochondria that are found in the peripheral and central regions of the fiber. The remaining fiber cross section contains contractile filaments and a well-developed network of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and triadic junctions. Here, to understand quantitatively how Ca2+ is managed by midshipman fibers during calling, we measure (a) the Ca2+ pumping-versus-pCa and force-versus-pCa relations in skinned fiber bundles and (b) changes in myoplasmic free [Ca2+] (Δ[Ca2+]) during stimulated activity of individual fibers microinjected with the Ca2+ indicators Mag-fluo-4 and Fluo-4. As in toadfish, the force–pCa relation in midshipman is strongly right-shifted relative to the Ca2+ pumping–pCa relation, and contractile activity is controlled in a synchronous, not asynchronous, fashion during electrical stimulation. SR Ca2+ release per action potential is, however, approximately eightfold smaller in midshipman than in toadfish. Midshipman fibers have a larger time-averaged free [Ca2+] during activity than toadfish fibers, which permits faster Ca2+ pumping because the Ca2+ pumps work closer to their maximum rate. Even with midshipman’s sustained release and pumping of Ca2+, however, the Ca2+ energy cost of calling (per kilogram wet weight) is less than twofold more in midshipman than in toadfish.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α expression induces alterations in cardiac myofilaments in a pressure-overload model of hypertrophy

Although alterations in fatty acid (FA) metabolism have been shown to have a negative impact on contractility of the hypertrophied heart, the targets of action remain elusive. In this study we compared the function of skinned fiber bundles from transgenic (Tg) mice that overexpress a relatively low level of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), and nontransgenic (NTg) littermates. The mice (NTg-T and Tg-T) were stressed by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and compared with shams (NTg-S and Tg-S). There was an approximate 4-fold increase in PPARα expression in Tg-S compared with NTg-S, but Tg-T hearts showed the same PPARα expression as NTg-T. Expression of PPARα did not alter the hypertrophic response to TAC but did reduce ejection fraction (EF) in Tg-T hearts compared with other groups. The rate of actomyosin ATP hydrolysis was significantly higher in Tg-S skinned fiber bundles compared with all other groups. Tg-T hearts showed an increase in phosphorylation of specific sites on cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) and β-myosin heavy chain isoform. These results advance our understanding of potential signaling to the myofilaments induced by altered FA metabolism under normal and pathological states. We demonstrate that chronic and transient PPARα activation during pathological stress alters myofilament response to Ca2+ through a mechanism that is possibly mediated by MyBP-C phosphorylation and myosin heavy chain isoforms. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Data presented here demonstrate novel signaling to sarcomeric proteins by chronic alterations in fatty acid metabolism induced by PPARα. The mechanism involves modifications of key myofilament regulatory proteins modifying cross-bridge dynamics with differential effects in controls and hearts stressed by pressure overload.

High K m of oxidative phosphorylation for ADP in skinned muscle fibers: where does it stem from?

Mitochondria in saponin-skinned cardiac fiber bundles were reported to have an order of magnitude lower apparent affinity to ADP than isolated mitochondria. Although ADP was measured outside the bundles, it was thought that the low affinity was not caused by diffusion gradients because of relatively short diffusion distances. Here we test the hypothesis that considerable ADP diffusion gradients exist and can be diminished by increasing the intrafiber ADP production rate. We increased the ADP-producing activity in rat heart skinned fiber bundles by incubating with 100 IU/ml yeast hexokinase and glucose. Consequently, we observed a significant decrease of the apparent Michaelis constant ( K m) to ADP of the respiration rate of bundles from 216 ± 59 to 50 ± 9 μM. Fitting the results with a mathematical model, we estimated the K m of mitochondria in the bundles to be 25 μM. We conclude that the affinity to ADP of in situ mitochondria in heart is of the same order of magnitude as that of isolated mitochondria.

Ca2+ activation and tension cost in myofilaments from mouse hearts ectopically expressing enteric γ-actin

To determine the significance of actin isoforms in chemomechanical coupling, we compared tension and ATPase rate in heart myofilaments from nontransgenic (NTG) and transgenic (TG) mice in which enteric γ-actin replaced >95% of the cardiac α-actin. Enteric γ-actin was expressed against three backgrounds: mice expressing cardiac α-actin, heterozygous null cardiac α-actin mice, and homozygous null cardiac α-actin mice. There were no differences in maximum Ca2+activated tension or maximum rate of tension redevelopment after a quick release and rapid restretch protocol between TG and NTG skinned fiber bundles. However, compared with NTG controls, Ca2+sensitivity of tension was significantly decreased and economy of tension development was significantly increased in myofilaments from all TG hearts. Shifts in myosin isoform population could not fully account for this increase in the economy of force production of TG myofilaments. Our results indicate that an exchange of cardiac α-actin with an actin isoform differing in only five amino acids has a significant impact on both Ca2+ regulation of cardiac myofilaments and the cross-bridge cycling rate.

Increased concentrations of Pi and lactic acid reduce creatine-stimulated respiration in muscle fibers

We tested the hypothesis that the respiratory function of skeletal muscle mitochondria is impaired by lactic acidosis and elevated concentrations of Pi. The rate of respiration of chemically skinned fiber bundles from rat soleus muscle was measured at [Pi] (brackets denote concentration) and pH values similar to those at rest (3 mM Pi, pH 7.0) and high-intensity exercise (20 mM Pi, pH 6.6). Respiration was measured in the absence of ADP and after sequential additions of 0.1 mM ADP, 20 mM creatine (Cr; V˙Cr), and 4 mM ADP. Respiration at 0.1 mM ADP increased after addition of Cr. However,V˙Cr was 23% lower ( P < 0.05) during high-intensity conditions than during resting conditions.V˙Cr was also reduced when Pi or H+ was increased separately ( P < 0.05). Respiration in the absence of ADP and after additions of 0.1 mM ADP and 4 mM ADP was not affected by changes in [Pi] or [H+]. The response was similar, irrespective of when acidosis was induced (i.e., quiescent or actively respiring mitochondria). In conclusion, Cr-stimulated respiration is impaired by increases in [H+] and [Pi] corresponding to those in exercising muscle. Although the reduced Cr-stimulated respiration could be compensated for by increased [ADP], this might have implications for intracellular homeostasis.

Increased contractility and altered Ca2+ transients of mouse heart myocytes conditionally expressing PKCβ

Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) in heart muscle signals hypertrophy and may also directly affect contractile function. We tested this idea using a transgenic (TG) mouse model in which conditionally expressed PKCβ was turned on at 10 wk of age and remained on for either 6 or 10 mo. Compared with controls, TG cardiac myocytes demonstrated an increase in the peak amplitude of the Ca2+ transient, an increase in the extent and rate of shortening, and an increase in the rate of relengthening at both 6 and 10 mo of age. Phospholamban phosphorylation and Ca2+-uptake rates of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles were the same in TG and control heart preparations. At 10 mo, TG skinned fiber bundles demonstrated the same sensitivity to Ca2+ as controls, but maximum tension was depressed and there was increased myofilament protein phosphorylation. Our results differ from studies in which PKCβ was constitutively overexpressed in the heart and in studies that reported a depression of myocyte contraction with no change in the Ca2+ transient.

Transgenic incorporation of skeletal TnT into cardiac myofilaments blunts PKC-mediated depression of force

Protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated phosphorylation of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and troponin T (cTnT) has been shown to diminish maximum activation of myofilaments. The functional role of cTnI phosphorylation has been investigated. However, the impact of cTnT phosphorylation on myofilament force is not well studied. We tested the effect of endogenous PKC activation on steady-state tension development and Ca2+ sensitivity in skinned fiber bundles from transgenic (TG) mouse hearts expressing fast skeletal TnT (fsTnT), which naturally lacks the PKC sites present in cTnT. The 12- O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) treatment induced a 29% (46.1 ± 2.5 vs. 33.4 ± 2.6 mN/mm2) reduction in maximum tension in the nontransgenic (NTG) preparations ( n = 7) and was inhibited with chelerythrine. However, TPA did not induce a change in the maximum tension in the TG preparations ( n = 11). TPA induced a small but significant ( P < 0.02) increase in Ca2+sensitivity (untreated pCa50 = 5.63 ± 0.01 vs. treated pCa50 = 5.72 ± 0.01) only in TG preparations. In TG preparations, 32P incorporation was not evident in TnT and was also significantly diminished in cTnI, compared with NTG. Our data indicate that incorporation of fsTnT into the cardiac myofilament lattice blunts PKC-mediated depression of maximum tension. These data also suggest that cTnT may play an important role in amplifying the myofilament depression induced by PKC-mediated phosphorylation of cTnI.

Ca2+ activation of myofilaments from transgenic mouse hearts expressing R92Q mutant cardiac troponin T

The functional consequences of the R92Q mutation in cardiac troponin T (cTnT), linked to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in humans, are not well understood. We have studied steady- and pre-steady-state mechanical activity of detergent-skinned fiber bundles from a transgenic (TG) mouse model in which 67% of the total cTnT in the heart was replaced by the R92Q mutant cTnT. TG fibers were more sensitive to Ca2+ than nontransgenic (NTG) fibers [negative logarithm of half maximally activating molar Ca2+ (pCa50) = 5.84 ± 0.01 and 6.12 ± 0.01 for NTG and TG fibers, respectively]. The shift in pCa50 caused by increasing the sarcomere length from 1.9 to 2.3 μm was significantly higher for TG than for NTG fibers (ΔpCa50 = 0.13 ± 0.01 and 0.29 ± 0.02 for NTG and TG fibers, respectively). The relationships between rate of ATP consumption and steady-state isometric tension were linear, and the slopes were the same in NTG and TG fibers. Rate of tension redevelopment was more sensitive to Ca2+ in TG than in NTG fibers (pCa50 = 5.71 ± 0.02 and 6.07 ± 0.02 for NTG and TG fibers, respectively). We concluded that overall cross-bridge cycling kinetics are not altered by the R92Q mutation but that altered troponin-tropomyosin interactions could be responsible for the increase in myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in TG myofilaments.

Altered hemodynamics in transgenic mice harboring mutant tropomyosin linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

We used transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing mutant α-tropomyosin [α-Tm(Asp175Asn)], linked to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC), to test the hypothesis that this mutation impairs cardiac function by altering the sensitivity of myofilaments to Ca2+. Left ventricular (LV) pressure was measured in anesthetized nontransgenic (NTG) and TG mice. In control conditions, LV relaxation was 6,970 ± 297 mmHg/s in NTG and 5,624 ± 392 mmHg/s in TG mice ( P < 0.05). During β-adrenergic stimulation, the rate of relaxation increased to 8,411 ± 323 mmHg/s in NTG and to 6,080 ± 413 mmHg/s in TG mice ( P < 0.05). We measured the pCa-force relationship (pCa = −log [Ca2+]) in skinned fiber bundles from LV papillary muscles of NTG and TG hearts. In control conditions, the Ca2+ concentration producing 50% maximal force (pCa50) was 5.77 ± 0.02 in NTG and 5.84 ± 0.01 in TG myofilament bundles ( P < 0.05). After protein kinase A-dependent phosphorylation, the pCa50 was 5.71 ± 0.01 in NTG and 5.77 ± 0.02 in TG myofilament bundles ( P < 0.05). Our results indicate that mutant α-Tm(Asp175Asn) increases myofilament Ca2+-sensitivity, which results in decreased relaxation rate and blunted response to β-adrenergic stimulation.

CGP-48506 increases contractility of ventricular myocytes and myofilaments by effects on actin-myosin reaction

We measured the effects of the benzodiazocine derivative, CGP-48506 (5-methyl-6-phenyl-1,3,5,6-tetrahydro-3,6-methano-1, 5-benzodiazocine-2,4-dione), on contraction of intact myocytes and permeabilized fibers of rat ventricular muscle. CGP-48506 is unique in that it is able to sensitize cardiac myofilaments to Ca2+, but unlike all other agents in this class, it is not an inhibitor of type III phosphodiesterase. When added to isolated intact myocytes, CGP-48506 significantly increased the amplitude of cell shortening with little or no change in the Ca2+ transient, as determined by the fluorescence ratio of fura 2. The late phase of the relation between fura 2 ratio and cell length was shifted to the left in the presence of CGP-48506. CGP-48506 also induced a relatively small decrease in diastolic length. However, compared with the thiadiazinone EMD-57033, CGP-48506 had a much smaller effect on diastolic length at concentrations in which there was a bigger inotropic effect. When added to solutions bathing detergent-extracted (skinned) fiber bundles, CGP-48506 increased maximum force. CGP-48506 also increased submaximal force and shifted the pGa-force relation to the left. However, compared with EMD-57033, there was less of an effect of CGP-48506 on force at relatively high pCa values. CGP-48506 did not alter Ca2+ binding to myofilament troponin C. CGP-48506 was able to reverse inhibition of contraction induced by butanedione monoxime both in intact cells and in skinned fiber bundles. Our results indicate that CGP-48506, like EMD-57033, is a positive inotropic agent working through a direct effect downstream from troponin C. CGP-48506, however, appears to have a unique mechanism resulting in less effect on diastolic function.