Effects of aging on the cardiac remodeling induced by chronic high-altitude hypoxia in rat.

Effects of chronic high-altitude hypoxia on the remodeling of right ventricle were examined in three age groups of rats: 2, 6, and 18 mo. The extent of right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy (RVH) showed an age-associated diminution. RV cell size and pericellular fibrosis showed a significant increase in the 2- and 6-mo-old exposed rats but not in the 18-mo-old exposed rats compared with control.

Membrane cholesterol modulates dihydropyridine receptor function in mice fetal skeletal muscle cells.

Caveolae and transverse (T-) tubules are membrane structures enriched in cholesterol and glycosphingolipids. They play an important role in receptor signalling and myogenesis. The T-system is also highly enriched in dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs), which control excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling.

Reversibility of electrophysiological changes induced by chronic high-altitude hypoxia in adult rat heart.

Recent studies indicate that regression of left ventricular hypertrophy normalizes membrane ionic current abnormalities. This work was designed to determine whether regression of right ventricular hypertrophy induced by permanent high-altitude exposure (4,500 m, 20 days) in adult rats also normalizes changes of ventricular myocyte electrophysiology. According to the current data, prolonged action potential, decreased transient outward current density, and increased inward sodium/calcium exchange current density normalized 20 days after the end of altitude exposure, whereas right ventricular hypertrophy evidenced by both the right ventricular weight-to-heart weight ratio and the right ventricular free wall thickness measurement normalized 40 days after the end of altitude exposure.

Voltage-gated sodium channel (SkM1) content in dystrophin-deficient muscle.

The membrane cytoskeleton is increasingly considered as both an anchor and a functional modulator for ion channels. The cytoskeletal disruptions that occur in the absence of dystrophin led us to investigate the voltage-gated sodium channel (SkM1) content in the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle of the dystrophin-deficient mdx mouse. Levels of SkM1 mRNA were determined by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Supramolecular organization of the subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton of adult skeletal muscle fibers. A review.

This review is focused on the composition and organization of the junctional subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton of adult muscle fibers. The cytoskeleton of muscle fibers is organized in functionally distinct compartments and the subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton itself can be broadly divided into junctional (myotendinous junction, neuromuscular junction and costameres) and non-junctional domains. In junctional zones three different multimolecular cytoskeletal complexes coexist: the focal adhesion-type, the spectrin-based and the dystrophin vs utrophin-based membrane skeleton systems.

Visualization of the subsarcolemmal cytoskeleton network of mouse skeletal muscle cells by en face views and application to immunoelectron localization of dystrophin.

The ultrastructural organization of the highly interconnected filamentous network underneath the sarcolemma as well as the role played by the muscle protein dystrophin within this cytoskeleton remain yet unclear. More accurate information has been obtained by using a method which provides three-dimensional en face views of large membrane areas applied to mouse cultured myotubes and isolated adult skeletal muscle fibres. Two levels have been distinguished in the cytoskeleton underlying the sarcolemma: the submembranous level, partly integrated into the membrane, and the cortical level, invading the proximal cytoplasmic space.

Inward barium current and excitation-contraction coupling in frog twitch muscle fibres.

The role of barium ions in excitation-contraction coupling was studied in single isolated frog semitendinosus fibres. Simultaneous recordings of membrane currents and contraction under voltage-clamp conditions in a sucrose-vaseline gap device show that barium ions have a reversible inhibiting effect on contraction. This inhibiting action was correlated to the entry of barium ions via the DHP-sensitive tubular calcium channel.

Degradation of metal-labeled collagen implants: ultrastructural and X-ray microanalysis.

Three different metal salts, silver nitrate, uranyl acetate and lead citrate, are mixed with a collagen gel to produce 3 metal/collagen sponges. These sponges were implanted subcutaneously in the rat and samples harvested after 5 days of implantation. TEM observation shows that sponges are degraded and digested by macrophages, polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) and fibroblasts.

X-ray microanalysis of calcium containing organelles in resin embedded tissue.

The localization of calcium in cell organelles at the electron microscope level is often achieved through cytochemical techniques, and verified by X-ray microanalysis. Various methods have been used to cytochemically detect calcium or calcium-binding sites: calcium loading, calcium substitution by strontium, barium, or even lead, and calcium precipitation by oxalate, phosphate, fluoride, or pyroantimonate. Their results may have heuristic value, particularly in preliminary studies of poorly known cell types.

Increase in the calcium content of cardiac tissue after postfixation with osmium tetroxide.

The concentration of osmium has been measured by destructive chemical analysis in glutaraldehyde fixed heart tissue postfixed with osmium tetroxide and embedded in epoxy resin. After such treatment, the mean atomic number of the specimen (Z) is close to 10, which permits a quantitative analysis of calcium (Ca) by the continuum method, using Z2/A as a correcting factor (A: atomic weight). Wavelength-dispersive X-ray microanalysis has been used to determine the Ca concentration of frog cardiac tissue fixed in glutaraldehyde and embedded in resin.

Quantitative X-ray microanalysis of calcium with the Camebax-TEM system in frozen, freeze-substituted and resin-embedded tissue sections. Application to molluscan glio-interstitial granules.

The relevance of the continuum method for a quantitative X-ray microanalysis of epon embedded tissue sections in the particular conditions offered by the Camebax-TEM system was tested and an improved model of specimen holder is proposed. The absolute calcium concentration [Ca] of membrane-bound intracellular glio-interstitial granules was determined by X-ray microanalysis in transmission electron microscopy of Mytilus retractor muscle. The Ca peak and background values were measured by the wavelength-dispersive spectrometer of the Camebax; the mass thickness of the section was recorded simultaneously with an added energy-dispersive detector.