Abstract
1. The exact nature of calcium sparks in the heart remains highly
controversial. We sought to determine whether calcium sparks arise
from a single or multiple calcium release channels/ ryanodine receptors
in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). If their genesis involves a calcium-coupled
recruitment of multiple channels, calcium sparks might be abolished
by a modest depletion of SR calcium (because of the decrease in unitary
calcium flux and hence a decrease in the gain of local calcium-induced
calcium release). If, on the other extreme, calcium sparks are produced
despite severe SR depletion, the single-channel origin will be preferred.
2. Spontaneous calcium sparks were studied in rat ventricular myocytes
using confocal microscopy and the fluorescent calcium probe fluo-3.
A computer algorithm was developed to count and measure objectively
calcium sparks in linescan images. 3. Thapsigargin (25-150 nM) depleted
caffeine-releasable SR calcium by up to 64\%, in a dose- and time-dependent
manner, without altering the resting cytosolic calcium level. During
SR depletion, calcium sparks were robustly observed, albeit at reduced
frequency (> or = 30\% of control) and amplitude (> or = 60\% of
control). 4. Due to the reduced detectability of small sparks against
noise background, the observed data would overestimate reduction
in spark frequency but underestimate amplitude reduction. After correction
for this detection bias, we found that the spark frequency was independent
of SR load, whereas the amplitude was proportional to load. 5. We
conclude that, although spark amplitude depends on SR filling status,
the frequency of spark generation is independent of SR calcium load,
and therefore independent of the local calcium release rate. This
implies that sparks are single-channel events, or collective events
that are well above threshold for local regeneration. Additionally,
our results suggest that intraluminal SR calcium, at normal or low
loads, does not play a major role in the regulation of on-gating
of the ryanodine receptor.
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