Article,

Calcium-induced release of calcium from the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

.
Am. J. Physiol., 245 (1): C1--14 (July 1983)

Abstract

The hypothesis of a Ca$^2+$-induced Ca$^2+$ release (CICR) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is supported by experiments done in skinned cardiac cells (sarcolemma removed by microdissection). According to this hypothesis, the transsarcolemmal Ca$^2+$ influx does not activate the myofilaments directly but through the induction of a Ca$^2+$ release from the SR. The stimulus gating CICR is not a small change in free Ca$^2+$ concentration (deltafree Ca$^2+$) outside the SR but a function of the rate of this change (deltafree Ca$^2+$/delta t). The initial relatively fast component of the transsarcolemmal Ca$^2+$ current would trigger Ca$^2+$ release; the subsequent slow component, perhaps corresponding to noninactivating Ca$^2+$ channels, would load the SR with an amount of Ca$^2+$ available for release during subsequent beats. Inactivation of CICR is caused by the large increase of free Ca$^2+$ outside the SR resulting from Ca$^2+$ release, which inhibits further release. This negative feedback helps to explain that CICR is not all or none. During relaxation the Ca$^2+$ reaccumulation in the SR is backed up by the Ca$^2+$ efflux across the sarcolemma through Na$^+$-Ca$^2+$ exchange and the sarcolemmal Ca$^2+$ pump. Computations of the Ca$^2+$ buffering in the mammalian ventricular cell and of the systolic transsarcolemmal Ca$^2+$ influx do not support the alternative hypothesis that this influx of Ca$^2+$ is large enough to activate the myofilaments directly. Yet the hypothesis of a CICR can be challenged because of many problems and uncertainties related to the preparations and methods used for skinned cardiac cell experiments.

Tags

Users

  • @hake

Comments and Reviews