Biomedical subjects

D W Hilgemann

Publications and source records attributed to D W Hilgemann.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1987

Excitation-contraction coupling and extracellular calcium transients in rabbit atrium: reconstruction of basic cellular mechanisms.

Interactions of electrogenic sodium-calcium exchange, calcium channel and sarcoplasmic reticulum in the mammalian heart have been explored by simulation of extracellular calcium transients measured with tetramethylmurexide in rabbit atrium. The approach has been to use the simplest possible formulations of these mechanisms, which together with a minimum number of additional mechanisms allow reconstruction of action potentials, intracellular calcium transients and extracellular calcium transients. A 3:1 sodium-calcium exchange stoichiometry is assumed. Calcium-channel inactivation is assumed to take place by a voltage-dependent mechanism, which is accelerated by a rise in intracellular calcium; intracellular calcium release becomes a major physiological regulator of calcium influx via calcium channels. A calcium release mechanism is assumed, which is both calcium- and voltage-sensitive, and which undergoes prolonged inactivation. 200 microM cytosolic calcium buffer is assumed. For most simulations only instantaneous potassium conductances are simulated so as to study the other mechanisms independently of time- and calcium-dependent outward current. Thus, the model reconstructs extracellular calcium transients and typical action-potential configuration changes during steady-state and non-steady-state stimulation from the mechanisms directly involved in trans-sarcolemmal calcium movements. The model predicts relatively small trans-sarcolemmal calcium movements during regular stimulation (ca. 2 mumol kg-1 fresh mass per excitation); calcium current is fully activated within 2 ms of excitation, inactivation is substantially complete within 30 ms, and sodium-calcium exchange significantly resists repolarization from approximately -30 mV. Net calcium movements many times larger are possible during non-steady-state stimulation. Long action potentials at premature excitations or after inhibition of calcium release can be supported almost exclusively by calcium current (net calcium influx 5-30 mumol kg-1 fresh mass); action potentials during potentiated post-stimulatory contractions can be supported almost exclusively by sodium-calcium exchange (net calcium efflux 4-20 mumol kg-1 fresh mass). Large calcium movements between the extracellular space and the sarcoplasmic reticulum can take place through the cytosol with virtually no contractile activation. The simulations provide integrated explanations of electrical activity, contractile function and trans-sarcolemmal calcium movements, which were outside the explanatory range of previous models.

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PubMed1986

Extracellular calcium transients and action potential configuration changes related to post-stimulatory potentiation in rabbit atrium.

Extracellular calcium transients were monitored with 2 mM tetramethylmurexide at low calcium (250 microM total, 130 microM free), and action potentials were monitored together with developed tension at normal calcium (1.3 mM) during the production and decay of post-stimulatory potentiation in rabbit left atrial strips. At normal calcium, the contractile potentiation produced by a brief burst of 4 Hz stimulation is lost in three to five post-stimulatory excitations, which correlate with a negative staircase of the late action potential. At low calcium, stimulation at 4 Hz for 3-8 s results in a net extracellular calcium depletion of 5-15 microM. At the subsequent potentiated contraction (1-45 s rest), total extracellular calcium increases by 4-8 microM. The contractile response at a second excitation is greatly suppressed and results in little or no further calcium shift; the sequence can be repeated immediately thereafter. Reducing external sodium to 60 mM (sucrose replacement) enhances post-rest contractions, suppresses the late action potential, nearly eliminates loss of contractility and net calcium efflux at post-rest excitations, and markedly reduces extracellular calcium depletion during rapid stimulation. 4-Aminopyridine (1 mM) markedly suppresses the rapid early repolarization of this preparation at post-rest excitations and the loss of contractility at post-rest stimulation from the rested state; during a post-stimulatory potentiation sequence at low calcium, replenishment of extracellular calcium takes several post-stimulatory excitations. Ryanodine (10 nM to 5 microM) abolishes the post-stimulatory contraction at rest periods of greater than 5 s. If the initial repolarization is rapid, ryanodine suppresses the late action potential, calcium efflux during quiescence is greatly accelerated, and subsequent excitations do not result in an accumulation of extracellular calcium. A positive staircase of the early action potential correlates with the magnitude of net extracellular calcium depletion. These findings demonstrate that negative contractile staircases at post-rest stimulation correspond closely to an accumulation of extracellular calcium at activation and a negative staircase of the late action potential; the correlation of these three events suggests that electrogenic sodium-calcium exchange is the common underlying mechanism.

4-Aminopyridine↗

PubMed1986

Extracellular calcium transients at single excitations in rabbit atrium measured with tetramethylmurexide.

Extracellular calcium transients were resolved within the time course of single contraction cycles in rabbit left atrium using tetramethylmurexide (2 mM) as the calcium-sensitive dye (150-250 microM total calcium, 80-150 microM free calcium). Net extracellular calcium depletion began within 2-4 ms upon excitation; over the following 5-20 ms, depletion continued steeply and amounted to 0.2 mumol/kg wet weight X 10 ms (135 microM free extracellular calcium). In regularly excited muscles (0.5-2 Hz), net depletion slowed rapidly and stopped early during the rise of contractile motion monitored by transmitted light. Maximum depletions amounted to 0.2-0.5% of total extracellular calcium (0.2-0.5 mumol/kg wet weight with 135 microM free calcium). Replenishment of extracellular calcium began at the latest midway to the peak of the motion signal. Calcium replenishment could be complete for the most part by an early phase of relaxation or could take place continuously through relaxation. The maximal net depletion per beat decreased manyfold with a decrease of frequency from 1 to 0.05 Hz. During paired pulse stimulation (200-300-ms twin pulse separation at basal rates of 0.3-1 Hz), extracellular calcium accumulation was enhanced at the initial potentiated contraction; extracellular calcium depletion was prolonged at the low-level premature contraction. With quadruple stimulation (three premature excitations), the apparent rate of net extracellular calcium accumulation at potentiated contractions approached or exceeded the apparent rate of early net calcium depletion. Under the special circumstance of a strongly potentiated post-stimulatory contraction after greater than 5 s rest, repolarization beyond -40 mV occurred within 10 ms, net extracellular calcium accumulation began with the onset of muscle motion, and net extracellular calcium accumulation (1-3 microM/kg wet weight) coincided with a more positive late action potential in comparison with subsequent action potentials. Consistent changes of the apparent rate of early net calcium depletion were not found with any of the simulation patterns examined. In ryanodine-pretreated atria, the duration of depletion was clearly limited by action potential duration at post-rest stimulations; in the presence of 4-aminopyridine (2 mM), depletion continued essentially undiminished for up to 200 ms. The resulting net depletion magnitudes were greater than 10 times larger than the transient depletions found during steady stimulation.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Transsarcolemmal calcium movements in arterially perfused rabbit right ventricle measured with extracellular calcium-sensitive dyes.

Activation-dependent changes of mean extracellular calcium concentrations were monitored spectrophotometrically in arterially perfused right ventricle of rabbit via extracellular application of the calcium-sensitive absorption dyes, antipyrylazo III and tetramethylmurexide. After rest periods of 3 minutes or longer, 10% of total dye-accessible calcium (300-500 microM) is depleted cumulatively from the extracellular space by four to eight beats at 2 Hz stimulation. During continued stimulation, or during quiescence following a depletion response, mean extracellular calcium concentrations return toward the prestimulatory level in the course of 2-4 minutes. A single stimulation placed 2-30 seconds subsequent to rapid pacing results in a potentiated beat with an accompanying net increment of mean extracellular calcium. Total dye-accessible calcium can increase by at least 4% at such a beat, and depletion responses can be repeated immediately thereafter. During a sequence of such responses, extracellular calcium lost cumulatively during three to five rapid beats is replenished, for the most part, by a single post-stimulatory beat. These results demonstrate that most of the "activator pool" of cellular calcium can turn over to the extracellular space during a single contraction cycle in rabbit myocardium, and suggest that, in mammalian myocardium, diastolic calcium efflux may be quantitatively negligible in relation to efflux during excitation-contraction coupling.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Activation-dependent cumulative depletions of extracellular free calcium in guinea pig atrium measured with antipyrylazo III and tetramethylmurexide.

We have used a spectrophotometric method to monitor mean free extracellular calcium concentrations in isolated left atria of guinea pigs via extracellular application of the calcium-sensitive absorption dyes, antipyrylazo III and tetramethylmurexide. Exchange of extracellular free calcium with the bathing medium takes several minutes and closely parallels contractile response in this preparation. Under conditions favoring a rapid positive force staircase response during repetitive stimulation after a long rest period (2-10 minutes), cumulative depletions of extracellular calcium can clearly be differentiated from motion artifact due to muscle movement by multiple-wavelength spectrophotometry. Responses of similar magnitude and characteristics are obtained with both dyes employed. In the presence of 10(-7) M isoproterenol, the mean extracellular calcium concentration falls by at least 5% (0.25-0.8 mM total calcium concentration) in four beats at 0.5 Hz; extracellular calcium replenishes during rest with an apparent t1/2 of 25-60 seconds. A 10-minute pretreatment with 10(-8) M ryanodine greatly reduces the contraction force and motion artifact of the first beat after a rest period, whereby the magnitude of depletion response to one post-rest stimulation is increased 2- to 3-fold. With further ryanodine treatment, the magnitude of depletion responses remains stable, and the rate of calcium replenishment during rest increases many-fold. After ryanodine treatment and 10(-7) M isoproterenol, at least 10% of total dye accessible calcium (0.25-1.0 mM) is lost during two to five rapid stimulations, and returns to the extracellular space within 20 seconds of rest. Cumulative extracellular calcium depletion responses are strongly suppressed by 10(-6) M nifedipine. Cumulative depletion responses are also inhibited by 10 mM caffeine, whereby contraction and corresponding motion artifacts are increased at post-rest stimulation.

Animals↗