Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Cardiac Muscle

2002 ◽  
pp. 49-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Trafford ◽  
D. A. Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Excitation Contraction Coupling ◽  
Contraction Coupling

scholarly journals THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF FROG VENTRICULAR CARDIAC MUSCLE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MECHANISMS OF EXCITATION-CONTRACTION COUPLING

1968 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Staley ◽  
Ellis S. Benson
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Mammalian Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Striated Muscles ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Excitation Contraction Coupling ◽  
Contraction Coupling ◽  
Dense Granules

Frog ventricular cardiac muscle has structural features which set it apart from frog and mammalian skeletal muscle and mammalian cardiac muscle. In describing these differences, our attention focused chiefly on the distribution of cellular membranes. Abundant inter cellular clefts, the absence of tranverse tubules, and the paucity of sarcotubules, together with exceedingly small cell diameters (less than 5 µ), support the suggestion that the mechanism of excitation-contraction coupling differs in these muscle cells from that now thought to be characteristic of striated muscle such as skeletal muscle and mammalian cardiac muscle. These structural dissimilarities also imply that the mechanism of relaxation in frog ventricular muscle differs from that considered typical of other striated muscles. Additional ultrastructural features of frog ventricular heart muscle include spherical electron-opaque bodies on thin filaments, inconstantly present, forming a rank across the I band about 150 mµ from the Z line, and membrane-bounded dense granules resembling neurosecretory granules. The functional significance of these features is not yet clear.

scholarly journals The recombinant dihydropyridine receptor II–III loop and partly structured ‘C’ region peptides modify cardiac ryanodine receptor activity

2005 ◽  
Vol 385 (3) ◽  
pp. 803-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela F. DULHUNTY ◽  
Yamuna KARUNASEKARA ◽  
Suzanne M. CURTIS ◽  
Peta J. HARVEY ◽  
Philip G. BOARD ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Secondary Structure ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Ryanodine Receptor ◽  
Structure Analysis ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Random Coil ◽  
Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Excitation Contraction Coupling ◽  
Contraction Coupling

A physical association between the II–III loop of the DHPR (dihydropryidine receptor) and the RyR (ryanodine receptor) is essential for excitation–contraction coupling in skeletal, but not cardiac, muscle. However, peptides corresponding to a part of the II–III loop interact with the cardiac RyR2 suggesting the possibility of a physical coupling between the proteins. Whether the full II–III loop and its functionally important ‘C’ region (cardiac DHPR residues 855–891 or skeletal 724–760) interact with cardiac RyR2 is not known and is examined in the present study. Both the cardiac DHPR II–III loop (CDCL) and cardiac peptide (Cc) activated RyR2 channels at concentrations >10 nM. The skeletal DHPR II–III loop (SDCL) activated channels at ≤100 nM and weakly inhibited at ≥1 μM. In contrast, skeletal peptide (Cs) inhibited channels at all concentrations when added alone, or was ineffective if added in the presence of Cc. Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was enhanced by CDCL, SDCL and the C peptides. The results indicate that the interaction between the II–III loop and RyR2 depends critically on the ‘A’ region (skeletal DHPR residues 671–690 or cardiac 793–812) and also involves the C region. Structure analysis indicated that (i) both Cs and Cc are random coil at room temperature, but, at 5 °C, have partial helical regions in their N-terminal and central parts, and (ii) secondary-structure profiles for CDCL and SDCL are similar. The data provide novel evidence that the DHPR II–III loop and its C region interact with cardiac RyR2, and that the ability to interact is not isoform-specific.

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