It has been shown that mitochondria not only control their own Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]), but also exert an influence over Ca(2+) signaling of the entire cell, including the endoplasmic reticulum or the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the plasma membrane, and the nucleus. That is to say, mitochondria couple cellular metabolic state with Ca(2+) transport processes. This review focuses on the ways in which the mitochondrial Ca(2+) handling system provides integrity and modulation for the cell to cope with the complex actions throughout its life cycle, enumerates some indeterminate aspects about it, and finally, prospects directions of future research.
Biological Transport ; Calcium Signaling ; Cell Membrane ; physiology ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; physiology ; Mitochondria ; physiology ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; physiology

Sarcolipin (SLN) is a 3 kD membrane protein found in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). It has 31 amino acid residues; SLN and phopholamban (PLB) are belong to the same protein family, so they have similar physiological functions. SLN inhibits sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase (SERCA) activity and reduces its affinity of Ca(2+), resulting in dysfunction of myocardial contraction and heart failure. However, much remains to be elucidated. SLN independently or in conjunction with PLB affects SERCA activity, imbalancing intracellular calcium homeostasis, and reducing myocardial contractivity; these effects promote the development of heart failure.
Animals ; Calcium-Binding Proteins ; physiology ; Heart Failure ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Muscle Proteins ; metabolism ; physiology ; Myocardial Contraction ; physiology ; Proteolipids ; metabolism ; physiology ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; metabolism ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Diaphragm ; physiology ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Muscle Contraction ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Respiration, Artificial ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; metabolism

Receptor proteins in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells often form regular lattice or array in the membrane. Recent theoretical analyses indicate that such arrays may provide a novel mechanism for receptor signaling regulation in cells. The functional coupling between neighboring receptors could improve the signaling performance. The ryanodine receptors (RyR)/calcium release channels usually form 2-D regular lattice in the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes. Thus, RyR is a potentially good model to study the function of receptor 2-D array. In this article, we briefly review recent progresses in this research field, including RyR-RyR interaction, RyR array's function and working mechanisms. The investigations performed by new methods in our laboratory are summarized. We demonstrate that the RyR-RyR interaction is modulated by the functional states of RyRs. Accordingly, the mechanism of "dynamic coupling" of RyR array is proposed. Its possible role in RyR-mediated Ca(2+) release is discussed.
Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cations ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Receptor Cross-Talk ; physiology ; Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel ; physiology ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; metabolism

The elevated plasma level of thyroxin and/or triiodothyronine in hyperthyroidism not only induces a transition from the innervated slow-twitch muscle fibers to fast-twitch fibers, but also changes the contractile function in transition muscle fibers. So the muscle weakness of thyrotoxic myopathy would relate to alteration in fatigability of tetanic contraction in muscles, especially in slow-twitch fibers. The aim of the present study was to observe the extent of fatigue of soleus in 4-week hyperthyroid rats and elucidate its underlying mechanism. The isolated soleus muscle strips were perfused in Krebs-Henseleit solution with or without an inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA). The contractile function of soleus was observed in twitch and intermittent tetanic contraction. The body weight in 4-week hyperthyroid rats decreased as compared with that in the control group [(292±13) g vs (354±10) g], but there was no difference between hyperthyroid and control groups in the wet weight of soleus [(107.3±8.6) mg vs (115.1±6.9) mg]. The time to peak tension (TPT) and time from peak tension to 75% relaxation (TR(75)) in twitch contraction were shortened in the soleus of hyperthyroid rats, and the TR(75) of tetanic contraction was also shortened as compared with that in the control group [(102.8±4.1) ms vs (178.8±15.8) ms]. The optimal stimulation frequency at which a maximal tension of tetanic contraction happened was shifted from 100 Hz in the control group to 140 Hz in hyperthyroid group. The soleus of hyperthyroid rat was easier to fatigue than that of the control rat during intermittent tetanic contraction. The SERCA activity also increased in soleus of hyperthyroid rat. The TR(75) in tetanic contraction was prolonged and showed an increased fatigue resistance in the soleus of control and hyperthyroid groups treated with 1.0 μmol/L CPA. The fatigue resistance of tetanic contraction in the soleus of hyperthyroid rat increased further with 5.0 μmol/L CPA treatment, but the resting tension kept rising. The 10 μmol/L CPA reduced the fatigue resistance of tetanic contraction in the soleus of hyperthyroid rat. The above results demonstrate that the SERCA activity in soleus can also influence the relaxation duration of twitch contraction like that in the myocardium. The SERCA activity in slow-twitch fibers is possibly involved in the regulation of fatigue resistance of intermittent tetanic contraction.
Animals ; Fatigue ; Glucose ; Hyperthyroidism ; enzymology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscle Fibers, Slow-Twitch ; enzymology ; physiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; enzymology ; physiology ; Rats ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; metabolism ; Tromethamine

AIMThe characteristics of ryanodine receptor in rat cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and nuclear envelope (NE) were studied.

METHODSVelocity and isopyknic gradient centrifugation was employed to fractionate rat SR and NE. Ryanodine receptor was assayed with [3H] ryanodine saturate binding to the preparations.

RESULTSThe maximal binding (Bmax) and dissociating constant (Kd) of ryanodine receptor in rat cardiac NE were, 1.7% and 60% of those in SR respectively. Phosphorylation in vitro by PKA and PKC increased Bmax of the receptors in SR by 372% and 121%, and augmented those in NE by 221% and 306%, without any effects on Kd.

CONCLUSIONRyanodine receptors were present in rat myocardial NE, with lower density and higher affinity than those located in SR, which can be activated by PKA and PKC.

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Kinetics ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Nuclear Envelope ; metabolism ; physiology ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Ryanodine ; metabolism ; Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel ; metabolism ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; metabolism ; physiology

Alamethicin/pharmacology ; Animal ; Calcium/*metabolism ; Electric Stimulation ; Heart Ventricle/*metabolism/physiology ; Rats ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum/*metabolism ; Sodium Iodide/pharmacology ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

OBJECTIVETo observe the influences of quercetin (Que) on the contraction of small intestine smooth muscle of rabbits in vitro and explore the mechanism.

METHODSWith the isothermal perfusion of small intestine in vitro. The influences of quercetin on the spontaneous contraction of small intestine and contraction induced by Ach, histamine and Bacl2 were observed and the mechanism of quercetin was studied.

RESULTSQuercetin reduced the tension of contraction of small intestine smooth muscle in rabbits in a dose-depended manner. Quercetin could completely block the contraction of Bay K8644. Heparin could also block the inhibition of quercetin on small intestine smooth muscle but ruthenium red (RR) had no effect on the relaxation of quercetin. Nitro-L-arginine methylester(L-NAME) inhibited the relaxation of quercetin.

CONCLUSIONQuercetin inhibits the contraction of small intestine smooth muscle of rabbits in vitro. The mechanism may be related to increase NO concentration in small intestine smooth muscle so that it inhibits extracellular Ca2+ inflowing via cell membrane. And quercetin has effect on intracellular Ca2+ releasing via IP3 of sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; In Vitro Techniques ; Intestine, Small ; drug effects ; Muscle, Smooth ; drug effects ; physiology ; Quercetin ; pharmacology ; Rabbits ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; drug effects ; metabolism

The present study is aimed to study the effect of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase 2a (SERCA2a) gene transfer on the contractile function of isolated cardiomyocytes of canines. The cardiomyocytes were isolated with collagenases. The isolated cardiac cells were divided into untransfected group, empty vector group and SERCA2a-transfected group. Recombinant adenovirus vector carrying enhanced green fluorescent protein gene was used for SERCA2a gene delivery. The expression of SERCA2a protein in cardiomyocytes was determined by Western blot. Contractile function of cardiomyocytes was measured with motion edge-detection system of single cell at 48 h after transfection. The results showed, compared with untransfected group, SERCA2a protein level, percentage of peak contraction amplitude under normal condition, percentages of peak contraction amplitude under Ca(2+) or isoproterenol stimulation, time-to-peak contraction (TTP) and time-to-50% relaxation (R50) in SERCA2a-transfected group all increased significantly. While all the above indices in empty vector group did not show any differences with those in untransfected group. These results suggest that the overexpression of SERCA2a by gene transfer may enhance the contraction function of canine myocardial cells.
Adenoviridae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Dogs ; Male ; Myocardial Contraction ; drug effects ; physiology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

A growing body of evidence, including studies using genetically engineered mouse models, has shown that Ca2+ cycling and Ca2+ -dependent signaling pathways play a pivotal role in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. In addition, recent studies identified that mutations of the genes encoding sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) proteins cause human cardiomyopathies and lethal ventricular arrhythmias. The regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis via the SR proteins may have potential therapeutic value for heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy, heart failure and arrhythmias.
Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; Arrhythmia/genetics ; Calcium/*metabolism ; Calcium Channels/genetics/*physiology ; Calcium-Binding Proteins/genetics/*physiology ; Cardiac Output, Low/genetics ; Cardiomyopathies/genetics ; Heart Diseases/*etiology/genetics/metabolism ; Humans ; Mutation/genetics ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum/metabolism