Post-tetanic potentiation of miniature end-plate potential frequency at neuromuscular junction of the rat soleus muscle

Aging increases calcium influx at motor nerve terminal

To determine whether increased transmitter release from soleus nerve terminals of old C57BL/6J mice is caused by an altered Ca2+ regulation, the time course of post-tetanic potentiation of miniature endplate potential (MEPP) frequency was used as an indicator of the kinetics of Ca2+ metabolism in young (10 months) and old (24 months) mice. Post-tetanic potentiation properties were studied in either (1) 0.2 mM Ca2+, 5.0 mM Mg2+ Krebs; or (2) Ca2(+)-free/EGTA Krebs to eliminate Ca2+ influx, and thereby isolated Ca2+ buffering. In the 0.2 mM Ca2+ Krebs, the time constants of decay of augmentation (TA) and potentiation (TP) were longer in old (TA = 10.3 +/- 1.0 sec, TP = 195.3 +/- 5.4 sec) than in young (TA = 7.0 +/- 0.7 sec, TP = 78.8 +/- 6.6 sec) nerve terminals. Evoked transmitter release was measured in 0.4 mM Ca2+, 2.75 mM Mg2+ Krebs. Quantal content of the endplate potential was positively correlated with TA (r = 0.95) and with TP (r = 0.98). In the Ca2(+)-free/EGTA Krebs, there was no difference in post-tetanic potentiation properties between young and old terminals. These results suggest that Ca2+ influx into the soleus nerve terminal increases with aging. This may explain, at least in part, the increased quantal content observed at old terminals.