α1-Adrenergic receptor regulates papillary muscle and aortic segment contractile function via modulation of store-operated Ca2+ entry in long-tailed ground squirrels Urocitellus undulatus

The effect of phenylephrine (PE) on right ventricle papillary muscle (PM) and aortic segment (AS) contractile activity was studied in long-tailed ground squirrels Urocitellus undulatus during summer activity, torpor and interbout active (IBA) periods in comparison to rat. We found that PE (10 μM) exerts positive inotropic effect on ground squirrel PM that was blocked by α1-AR inhibitor-prazosin. PE differently affected frequency dependence of PM contraction in ground squirrels and rats. PE significantly increased the force of PM contraction in summer and hibernating ground squirrels including both torpor and IBA predominantly at the range of low stimulation frequencies (0.003-0.1 Hz), while in rat PM it was evident only at high stimulation frequency range (0.2-1.0 Hz). Further, it was found that PE vasoconstrictor effect on AS contractility is significantly higher in ground squirrels of torpid state compared to IBA and summer periods. Overall vasoconstrictor effect of PE was significantly higher in AS of ground squirrels of all periods compared to rats. Positive inotropic effect of PE on PM along with its vasoconstrictor effect on AS of ground squirrels was not affected by pretreatment with inhibitors of L-type Ca2+ channels, or Na+/Ca2+ exchanger or Ca2+-ATPase but was completely blocked by an inhibitor of store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE)-2-APB, suggesting the involvement of SOCE in the mechanisms underlying PE action on ground squirrel cardiovascular system. Obtained results support an idea about the significant role of alpha1-AR in adaptive mechanisms critical for the maintaining of cardiovascular contractile function in long-tailed ground squirrel Urocitellus undulatus.

Store-operated Ca2+ entry supports contractile function in hearts of hibernators

Hibernators have a distinctive ability to adapt to seasonal changes of body temperature in a range between 37°C and near freezing, exhibiting, among other features, a unique reversibility of cardiac contractility. The adaptation of myocardial contractility in hibernation state relies on alterations of excitation contraction coupling, which becomes less-dependent from extracellular Ca²⁺ entry and is predominantly controlled by Ca²⁺ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum, replenished by the Ca²⁺-ATPase (SERCA). We found that the specific SERCA inhibitor cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), in contrast to its effect in papillary muscles (PM) from rat hearts, did not reduce but rather potentiated contractility of PM from hibernating ground squirrels (GS). In GS ventricles we identified drastically elevated, compared to rats, expression of Orai1, Stim1 and Trpc1/3/4/5/6/7 mRNAs, putative components of store operated Ca²⁺ channels (SOC). Trpc3 protein levels were found increased in winter compared to summer GS, yet levels of Trpc5, Trpc6 or Trpc7 remained unchanged. Under suppressed voltage-dependent K⁺, Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ currents, the SOC inhibitor 2-aminoethyl diphenylborinate (2-APB) diminished whole-cell membrane currents in isolated cardiomyocytes from hibernating GS, but not from rats. During cooling-reheating cycles (30°C–7°C–30°C) of ground squirrel PM, 2-APB did not affect typical CPA-sensitive elevation of contractile force at low temperatures, but precluded the contractility at 30°C before and after the cooling. Wash-out of 2-APB reversed PM contractility to control values. Thus, we suggest that SOC play a pivotal role in governing the ability of hibernator hearts to maintain their function during the transition in and out of hibernating states.

Sarcolemmal α2-adrenoceptors control protective cardiomyocyte-delimited sympathoadrenal response

Sustained cardiac adrenergic stimulation has been implicated in the development of heart failure and ventricular dysrhythmia. Conventionally, α2 adrenoceptors (α2-AR) have been assigned to a sympathetic short-loop feedback aimed at attenuating catecholamine release. We have recently revealed the expression of α2-AR in the sarcolemma of cardiomyocytes and identified the ability of α2-AR signaling to suppress spontaneous Ca²⁺ transients through nitric oxide (NO) dependent pathways. Herein, patch-clamp measurements and serine/threonine phosphatase assay revealed that, in isolated rat cardiomyocytes, activation of α2-AR suppressed L-type Ca²⁺ current (I_CaL) via stimulation of NO synthesis and protein kinase G- (PKG) dependent activation of phosphatase reactions, counteracting isoproterenol-induced β-adrenergic activation. Under stimulation with norepinephrine (NE), an agonist of β- and α-adrenoceptors, the α2-AR antagonist yohimbine substantially elevated I_CaL at NE levels >10nM. Concomitantly, yohimbine potentiated triggered intracellular Ca²⁺ dynamics and contractility of cardiac papillary muscles. Therefore, in addition to the α2-AR-mediated feedback suppression of sympathetic and adrenal catecholamine release, α2-AR in cardiomyocytes can govern a previously unrecognized local cardiomyocyte-delimited stress-reactive signaling pathway. We suggest that such aberrant α2-AR signaling may contribute to the development of cardiomyopathy under sustained sympathetic drive. Indeed, in cardiomyocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), an established model of cardiac hypertrophy, α2-AR signaling was dramatically reduced despite increased α2-AR mRNA levels compared to normal cardiomyocytes. Thus, targeting α2-AR signaling mechanisms in cardiomyocytes may find implications in medical strategies against maladaptive cardiac remodeling associated with chronic sympathoadrenal stimulation.

[Possible reasons for the variability of the inotropic insulin effect in papillary muscles of ground squirrel myocardium]

The effects of insulin (0.1-50 nM) on isometric twitch force (0.1 to 1.0 Hz; 30 +/- 1 degree C; 1.8 mM Ca(2+)) were studied in right ventricular papillary muscles from active ground squirrels of different seasons (summer, n = 14; autumn, n = 16 and winter interbout, n = 16) in control conditions and after one-hour pretreatment of PM with 2 mkM nifedipine (an L-type Ca(2+)-channel inhibitor) and 1.0 mM orthovanadate (a tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor). In active animals of different seasonal periods insulin causes both positive and negative inotropic effects. At low frequencies (0.1-0.5 Hz), insulin of low concentrations (0.1-1.0 nM) induces a transient (within the first 20 min after application) positive effect (about 15-25%). Application of high hormone concentration (10 nM) in a low range of stimulation frequencies causes a biphasic effect (a small initial positive inotropic effect followed by a marked negative one). At frequencies above 0.5-Hz stimulation, insulin of 10 nM concentration causes presumably a negative inotropic effect. It was proposed that ICaL is possibly involved in the insulin-induced negative inotropy in ground squirrels hearts. Alteration of protein phosphorylation in tyrosine residues is known to be a major link in the mechanism of insulin action. We performed a study on orthovanadate action (a known inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatase) on the inotropic insulin effect. In the group of summer animals the pretreatment of papillary muscles with orthovanadate (100 mkM) does not change the negative inotropic effect of insulin in a low range of stimulation frequencies but almost completely removes this effect at stimulation frequencies above 0.3 Hz (n = 4). Nifedipine (1-1.5 hr pretreatment), a blocker of L-type calcium channel, reduces the inhibitory effect of insulin in autumn and winter animals, and on the contrary intensifies it in summer animals. This fact indicates that different mechanisms must be involved in insulin actions in animals of summer and winter periods. The main findings of the present study are that insulin induces positive, negative or no inotropic effects in papillary muscles of ground squirrels myocardium. The character of the effects of insulin depends on the physiological state of animals; time and concentrations of the hormone applied; affected by conditions that alter cellular Ca(2+) loading and the ratio of protein-tyrosine kinases/phosphatases activity.

[The role of energy substrates in regulation of the force-frequency relationship in the rat myocardium: effect of ambiocor]

The effect of ambiocor (15 mg/100 ml), which contains natural substrates of energy metabolism, on the contractility of papillary muscles (PM) of the right ventricle of the rat heart was studied at stimulation frequencies from 0.1 to 3.0 Hz at a temperature of 30 +/- 1 degrees C (n = 7). The effect was recorded 20 min after the addition of the preparation. It was demonstrated that ambiocor causes a significant (about 70%), independent of stimulation frequency, suppression of the amplitude of isometric contractions (negative inotropic effect), which is coupled with an increase in the relative value of the rest potentiation effect (a qualitative index of calcium content in sarcoplasmic reticulum). The influence of the mixture leads to significant alterations in the time parameters of the "contraction-relaxation" cycle: an increase in the duration of latent period; and a decrease in the time to peak tension and half-relaxation time (TR50%). The effect of the mixture is partially reversible. During the washing of the preparation with the control solution, the qualitative indicators of the contractile activity of papillary muscles are substantially improved in comparison with the initial ones. The character of alterations allows one to assume that the effect of ambiocor in the papillary muscles of the rat heart is realized partly through the suppression of the activity of sarcolemmal calcium channels.

[Effect of isoproterenol on contractility of the heart papillary muscles of a ground squirrel]

The effect of isoproterenol (1 microM) on the force of isometric contractions (0.1-1.0 Hz, 30 +/- 1 degree C, 1.8 mM Ca2+) of papillary muscles of the right ventricle of the heart of the ground squirrel during summer activity (n = 5) and hibernation (activity between hibernation bouts, n = 4; torpor, n = 4; and arousal, n = 5) has been studied. It was shown that isoproterenol increases the force of contraction (positive inotropic effect) in active summer ground squirrels by 20 +/- 3 and 61 +/- 7% at stimulation frequencies of 0.4 and 1.0 Hz, respectively. The isoproterenol-induced increase in the force of contraction in animals during hibernation is brief (within 3 min after the onset of treatment) and this parameter decreases by 30-50% of the control level (negative inotropic effect) at stimulation frequencies from 0.3 and 0.8 Hz. The positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol in active summer ground squirrels is associated with a decrease in the relative value of the potentiating effect of the pause (qualitative indicator of calcium content in the sarcoplasmic reticulum), and the negative inotropic effect, with its increase. It was found that the inotropic effect of isoproterenol in all groups of animals examined (irrespective of its direction) is accompanied by an acceleration of the velocity of the contraction-relaxation cycle. The dependence of the effect of isoproterenol in the heart of hibernating animals on seasonal changes in the calcium homeostasis and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is discussed.

The seasonal peculiarities of force-frequency relationships in active ground squirrel Spermophilus undulatus ventricle

The plasticity of calcium homeostasis is of crucial importance for the unique ability of the hibernators' heart to function under conditions of body temperature changing from 37 degrees C to near freezing point. However, the precise mechanism of calcium homeostasis regulation in these animals is largely unknown. Force-frequency relationship, as an indicator of participation of various sources of calcium (external and intracellular) in the activation of contraction, and post-rest potentiation as an index of the capacity of sarcoplasmic reticulum (intracellular calcium source) to store and release Ca(2+), were studied to analyse the role of different calcium-transporting systems in seasonal and temperature-induced changes in isometric twitch force of ground squirrel papillary muscles. The obtained results revealed significant functional differences during the annual cycle, which are indicative of an increased role of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in regulation of contractility in animals in transition to the hibernation period. Also, how myocardium during the hibernation period copes functionally with acute decreases in temperature was investigated.

[Characteristics of force-frequency relations in the myocardium of the squirrel Citellus undulatus]

The force-frequency relationship (FFR) in papillary muscles of the heart of active ground squirrel in different seasons was studied. For comparison, similar preparations from rat and rabbit were used. It was shown that the FFR of papillary muscles of active ground squirrel undergo significant seasonal changes. In summer and a part of autumn squirrels, a negative staircase (a decrease in the isometric force with increasing stimulation frequency) similar to that in adult rat was revealed. The FFR of the majority of autumn, winter and spring squirrels were polyphasic and contained both positive and negative components. Changes in the force in response to the introduction of pauses at a constant stimulation frequency were recorded. Two types of the post-rest recovery pattern were revealed in the myocardium of ground squirrels. For frequencies range with the negative direction of FFR, a typical pattern of rest-potentiation similar to that in rat papillary muscles was observed. The amplitude of the first post-rest contraction (F1) was usually higher than that of the preceding steady-state contraction. In papillary muscles of autumn animals the F1 value was greater that in summer, which suggests an enhanced release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. There was no post-rest potentiation in the range of frequencies with positive direction of FFR, and the post-rest recovery pattern in these cases was principally different from those of rat and rabbit preparations. It was proposed that seasonal differences of the FFR of active ground squirrel heart are associated with changes in the ratio of activities of the calcium-transporting system in the hibernation period.

[Effect of insulin on the myocardium of the active, hibernating and wakening ground squirrel Citellus undulatus]

The effect of insulin (0.1-100 nM) on isometric force of contraction in isolated ground squirrel papillary muscle was investigated. In summer, autumn and winter active animals, insulin had a negative inotropic effect on papillary muscles, decreasing the amplitude of contraction by about 30% of the control value. In some cases, predominantly in the summer group of animals, insulin produced different effects on contractility: low doses (0.1-0.5 nM) caused a transient activation of isometric contraction by about 10-15% of control, whereas high doses produced a negative inotropic effect by about 30% of the control level. During deep hibernation (at 5-6 degrees C of heart temperature) and during arousal from hibernation (from 3 to 20 degrees C), insulin had no significant effect on contractility. Opposite inotropic effects of insulin at concentrations of 0.1-50 nM were found during arousal: from 26 to 31 degrees C of heart temperature--a positive inotropic effect by about 20-25% of control, and from 32 to 36 degrees C--a negative one by about 30-40% of the control value.

[The action of insulin on cardiac contractility in active, hibernating and arousing susliks Citellus undulatus]

During the deep hibernation (at 5-6 degrees C of the heart temperature) and during arousal from hibernation (at 15-16 degrees C) insulin have no effect on contractility. Two opposite inotropic effects of insulin at concentrations 0.1-50 nM were found at higher temperature of arousing: a transient positive inotropic effect between 21-28 degrees C, and a negative one (about 20-30% from the control value) above 28 degrees C. In active summer and winter animals insulin produced mainly the negative inotropic effect.

[Insulin regulation of 2 kinetically different types of calcium current]

At least two kinetically different kinds of calcium current are shown to exist in the frog atrial cells. The current with faster activation kinetics is usually depressed by insulin. Insulin also increases the amplitude of the slower calcium current. Pretreatment of atrial cells with cycloheximide does not change the effect of insulin on the fast calcium current but dramatically facilitates the insulin-induced activation of the slower calcium current.

[Modification by cycloheximide of the effects of insulin on the transport of calcium by sarcolemma of the myocardium]

The inhibitory effect of insulin on Ca2+-current was supposed to be due to activation of phosphoproteinphosphotases stimulated by a specific intracellular insulin messenger. The results obtained support the above suggestion. Pretreatment of myocardial preparation with cycloheximide in low concentrations completely blocks the inhibitory insulin effect on Ca2+-current due, probably, to a decrease in peptide formation. Moreover, prolonged effect of the hormone involves a considerable increase of the current as compared to its initial value. Possible mechanisms of modifying effect of cycloheximide on the function of insulin-dependent regulatory system in the myocardium, are discussed.

[Effect of insulin on the calcium current of the frog myocardium]

The experiments on frog atra tuberculae revealed that insulin could induce biphasic changes of calcium currents of different directions. The current is inhibited with hormone due to a decrease both in the conductivity of channel system and reversal potential. In some cases prior to inhibition of calcium current, a short rise of this current occurred (3-6 min) induced by increased reversal potential. Possible mechanisms of insulin electrophysiological effects are discussed.