This is a preliminary report of electron probe analysis of rabbit portal-anterior mesenteric vein (PAMV) smooth muscle cryosectioned without fixation or cryoprotection. The instrumentation and method of electron probe quantitation used (1) and our initial results with cardiac (2) and skeletal (3) muscle have been presented elsewhere.In preparations depolarized with high K (K2SO4) solution, significant calcium peaks were detected over the sarcoplasmic reticulum (Fig 1 and 2) and the continuous perinuclear space. In some of the fibers there were also significant (up to 200 mM/kg dry wt) calcium peaks over the mitochondria. However, in smooth muscle that was not depolarized, high mitochondrial Ca was found in fibers that also contained elevated Na and low K (Fig 3). Therefore, the possibility that these Ca-loaded mitochondria are indicative of cell damage remains to be ruled out.
