The ionic dependence of calcium efflux from guinea pig auricles

Mitochondrial Ca2+, redox environment and ROS emission in heart failure: Two sides of the same coin?

Heart failure (HF) is a progressive, debilitating condition characterized, in part, by altered ionic equilibria, increased ROS production and impaired cellular energy metabolism, contributing to variable profiles of systolic and diastolic dysfunction with significant functional limitations and risk of premature death. We summarize current knowledge concerning changes of intracellular Na+ and Ca2+ control mechanisms during the disease progression and their consequences on mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis and the shift in redox balance. Absent existing biological data, our computational modeling studies advance a new 'in silico' analysis to reconcile existing opposing views, based on different experimental HF models, regarding variations in mitochondrial Ca2+ concentration that participate in triggering and perpetuating oxidative stress in the failing heart and their impact on cardiac energetics. In agreement with our hypothesis and the literature, model simulations demonstrate the possibility that the heart's redox status together with cytoplasmic Na+ concentrations act as regulators of mitochondrial Ca2+ levels in HF and of the bioenergetics response that will ultimately drive ATP supply and oxidative stress. The resulting model predictions propose future directions to study the evolution of HF as well as other types of heart disease, and to develop novel testable mechanistic hypotheses that may lead to improved therapeutics.

Control of cardiac contraction by sodium: Promises, reckonings, and new beginnings

Several generations of cardiac physiologists have verified that basal cardiac contractility depends strongly on the transsarcolemmal Na gradient, and the underlying molecular mechanisms that link cardiac excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) to the Na gradient have been elucidated in good detail for more than 30 years. In brief, small increases of cytoplasmic Na push cardiac (NCX1) Na/Ca exchangers to increase contractility by increasing the myocyte Ca load. Accordingly, basal cardiac contractility is expected to be physiologically regulated by pathways that modify the cardiac Na gradient and the function of Na transporters. Assuming that this expectation is correct, it remains to be elucidated how in detail signaling pathways affecting the cardiac Na gradient are controlled in response to changing cardiac output requirements. Some puzzle pieces that may facilitate progress are outlined in this short review. Key open issues include (1) whether the concept of local Na gradients is viable, (2) how in detail Na channels, Na transporters and Na/K pumps are regulated by lipids and metabolic processes, (3) the physiological roles of Na/K pump inactivation, and (4) the possibility that key diffusible signaling molecules remain to be discovered.

The investigation of the cellular electrophysiological and antiarrhythmic effects of a novel selective sodium-calcium exchanger inhibitor, GYKB-6635, in canine and guinea-pig hearts

The sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) is considered as the major transmembrane transport mechanism that controls Ca²⁺ homeostasis. Its contribution to the cardiac repolarization has not yet been directly studied due to lack of specific inhibitors, so that an urgent need for more selective compounds. In this study, the electrophysiological effects of GYKB-6635, a novel NCX inhibitor, on the NCX, L-type calcium, and main repolarizing potassium currents as well as action potential (AP) parameters were investigated. Ion currents and AP recordings were investigated by applying the whole-cell patch clamp and standard microelectrode techniques in canine heart at 37 °C. Effects of GYKB-6635 were studied in ouabain-induced arrhythmias in isolated guinea-pig hearts. At a concentration of 1 μmol/L, GYKB significantly reduced both the inward and outward NCX currents (57% and 58%, respectively). Even at a high concentration (10 μmol/L), GYKB-6635 did not change the I_CaL, the maximum rate of depolarization (dV/dt_max), the main repolarizing K⁺ currents, and the main AP parameters. GYKB-6635 pre-treatment significantly delayed the time to the development of ventricular fibrillation (by about 18%). It is concluded that GYKB-6635 is a potent and highly selective inhibitor of the cardiac NCX and, in addition, it is suggested to also contribute to the prevention of DAD-based arrhythmias.

REVIEW ■ : The Na-Ca Exchanger in Neurons and Glial Cells

The Na+-Ca 2+ exchanger is a secondary active antiporter found in all excitable cells. This transporter couples transmembrane fluxes of Na+ to opposite fluxes of Ca2+. Under normal conditions, the energy stored in the electrochemical Na+ gradient is used to export Ca 2+ from the cytoplasm, thus contributing to cellular Ca2+ homeostasis, such as termination of Ca2+ transients during synaptic transmission in nerve terminals. The reversible and electrogenic properties of the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger suggest an interesting additional role of controlled Ca2+ entry, e.g., during action potential generation in axons. Moreover, under pathological conditions, such as anoxia/ischemia, the exchanger may function either to help extrude damaging Ca2+ loads entering via other pathways in neurons or mediate Ca2+ overload in axons. Cell geometry will influence the rate and extent of collapse of the Na+ gradient and membrane potential, the two main driving forces acting on the exchanger, which will in turn dictate to what extent and in which direction Ca2+ will be transported. The Na+-Ca2+ exchanger is subject to complex regulatory control by several ions and chemical messengers, and several recently identified isoforms are undoubtedly tailored for specific roles in different regions of the CNS. NEUROSCIENTIST 2:162-171, 1996

The dependence of calcium efflux from cardiac muscle on temperature and external ion composition

1. Exchangeable Ca in guinea-pig auricles and ventricular trabeculae of sheep and calf hearts was labelled with (45)Ca and the loss of radioactivity into inactive rinsing solutions of different ion composition was measured for periods up to 6 hr. At no time did the decrease of radioactivity in the muscle follow a single exponential course, while the rate coefficient k (= fraction of (45)Ca lost per minute from muscle into rinsing solution) decreased slightly with time.2. On the basis of the temperature-sensitivity of Ca efflux from auricles the activation energy has been calculated to have a value of 5900 cal/mole, corresponding to a Q(10) of 1.35. 2,4-Dinitrophenol (5.5 x 10(-5) - 5.5 x 10(-4)M) had either no effect on Ca efflux or increased it slightly.3. Compared to control efflux in 1.8 mM [Ca](o) Ca efflux decreased to 70% in Ca-free solution, to 20% in Ca-free, Na-free solution and to 65% in Ca-containing, Na-free solution, NaCl being replaced by either sucrose or LiCl. Quantitatively, Ca efflux from auricles has been shown to depend to a large extent on the ratio [Ca(2+)](o)/[Na(+)](o) (2). The affinity for Na of the activation site for Ca efflux (carrier) is much less than for Ca.4. The efflux from muscles soaked for about 2 hr in Ca-free solution was not linearly related to Ca-concentration in the tissue but followed a square law.5. While Ca content in auricles increased in Ca-containing, Na-poor solution it decreased again when Tyrode solution was readmitted indicating a Na-sensitive Ca net transport in cardiac muscle.6. The results are interpreted in terms of a modified exchange diffusion mechanism (Ussing, 1947) which is responsible for Ca extrusion from mammalian cardiac muscle.