This study examines whether fluid pressure (FP) modulates the L-type Ca2+ channel in cardiomyocytes and investigates the underlying cellular mechanism(s) involved. A flow of pressurized (∼16 dyn/cm2) fluid, identical to that bathing the myocytes, was applied onto single rat ventricular myocytes using a microperfusion method. The Ca2+ current ( ICa) and cytosolic Ca2+ signals were measured using a whole cell patch-clamp and confocal imaging, respectively. It was found that the FP reversibly suppressed ICa (by 25%) without altering the current-voltage relationships, and it accelerated the inactivation of ICa. The level of ICa suppression by FP depended on the level and duration of pressure. The Ba2+ current through the Ca2+ channel was only slightly decreased by the FP (5%), suggesting an indirect inhibition of the Ca2+ channel during FP stimulation. The cytosolic Ca2+ transients and the basal Ca2+ in field-stimulated ventricular myocytes were significantly increased by the FP. The effects of the FP on the ICa and on the Ca2+ transient were resistant to the stretch-activated channel inhibitors, GsMTx-4 and streptomycin. Dialysis of myocytes with high concentrations of BAPTA, the Ca2+ buffer, eliminated the FP-induced acceleration of ICa inactivation and reduced the inhibitory effect of the FP on ICa by ≈80%. Ryanodine and thapsigargin, abolishing sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, eliminated the accelerating effect of FP on the ICa inactivation, and they reduced the inhibitory effect of FP on the ICa. These results suggest that the fluid pressure indirectly suppresses the Ca2+ channel by enhancing the Ca2+-induced intracellular Ca2+ release in rat ventricular myocytes.
ATP counteracts the rundown of gap junctional channels of rat ventricular myocytes by promoting protein phosphorylation