Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine cryofracture surfaces of ventricular myocardium from glutaraldehyde fixed rat and rabbit hearts subjected to intravascular injection of polymerizing acrylic resin. This allowed simultaneous observation of morphological features of cardiac muscle cells and the functional state of their associated small blood vessels. Because the resin injected to identify capillaries accessible to flow might be soluble in commonly used tissue dehydrating agents, alternative preparation methods using the cryoprotectants dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and glycerol were investigated. Provided a high performance backscattered electron detector and simple environmental cell were used to abolish specimen charging and circumvent potential instrument contamination, immersion in 2.82 M DMSO for 12 hr prior to cryofracture and freeze-drying gave the best results. The SEM appearance of specimens dehydrated in this way differed little from that of specimens prepared by ethanol dehydration and freeze-drying or by acetone dehydration and critical-point drying. Tissue shrinkage was 26.5 +/- 9.4%, comparable to that found after standard methods using solvent dehydration and critical-point drying.
 ...
PMID:Scanning electron microscopy of heart muscle freeze-dried from dimethylsulfoxide for simultaneous demonstration of cell morphology and microvascular function. 309 79

During an investigation of the effect of ryanodine on contractions in cardiac muscle, it was found that long rest periods removed all or most of the drug's effect. Therefore, we studied the kinetics of block development and recovery from block produced by low concentrations of ryanodine (1-100 pM) on the postrest contractions of ferret papillary muscle. At 100 pM, ryanodine depressed steady-state contraction amplitude slightly (4.2 +/- 1.1% mean +/- SEM, n = 10) but strongly inhibited (40-80%) the first contraction (postrest contraction) elicited on restimulation of the preparation after rest periods of 1 second to 5 minutes. Under control conditions, the nearly maximal potentiation of the twitch occurring after a standard test rest period (30 seconds of rest) was not affected by a preceding conditioning rest of up to 20 minutes. In the presence of 100 pM ryanodine, a conditioning rest increased the amplitude of the twitch elicited after a test rest, and the test rest contraction recovered toward control (drug-free) amplitude monoexponentially (time constant, 582 +/- 105 seconds). Block of postrest contraction could be reinduced by stimulation and occurred faster when higher rates were used (time constants, 758 seconds at 1 Hz and 107 +/- 26 seconds at 3 Hz). Since rest potentiation of twitch tension is believed to be mostly dependent on extra calcium released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the results suggest that the ryanodine-induced blockade of calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum is use-dependent and recovers during diastole.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Use-dependence of ryanodine effects on postrest contraction in ferret cardiac muscle. 359 40

Cytosolic free calcium concentration was determined in isolated ventricular myocytes from adult rats with the calcium-sensitive indicator, quin 2. The fluorescence signal from resting cells indicated that cytosolic free calcium concentration was 181 +/- 18 nM (mean +/- SEM, n = 18). Inhibition of the sodium-potassium pump with strophanthidin (0.1 mM) resulted in an increase of cytosolic free calcium concentration from 186 +/- 17 to 736 +/- 129 nM (n = 6). The results indicate that it is possible to measure cytosolic free calcium concentration in cardiac muscle cells that have been isolated enzymatically. Moreover, they confirm the observation that inhibition of the sodium-potassium pump increases cytosolic free calcium concentration, presumably via the sodium-calcium exchange mechanism.
 ...
PMID:Measurement of cytosolic free calcium concentration in isolated rat ventricular myocytes with quin 2. 649 38

We prepared primary cell cultures of the sinus node region from newborn rat hearts. Sinoatrial node cells were easily distinguished from the other cardiac muscle cells and nonmuscle cells in culture by size, configuration, and rapid, attenuated spontaneous contractions (185.0 +/- 8/min, mean +/- SEM). The spontaneously contracting sinoatrial node cells were extremely sensitive to acetylcholine and norepinephrine, responding to concentrations at least 1000-fold less than other cardiac muscle cells. These same sinoatrial node cells in culture were fixed and precisely relocated by either subsequent scanning or transmission electron microscopy. The ultrastructural features of these sinoatrial node cells in culture were similar to those observed in the cells of intact sinus node sections from the source hearts. This study is the first to present single, spontaneously active, neonatal sinoatrial node cells maintained in vitro with morphological and functional properties desirable for physiological investigations.
 ...
PMID:The isolated sinoatrial node cell in primary culture from the newborn rat. 674 34

1. Twelve untreated hypertensive patients whose blood pressure was 171.8 +/- 5.5 mmHg systolic and 119.7 +/- 3.4 mmHg diastolic (mean +/- SEM) were treated aggressively with diuretics plus other antihypertensive agents. Echocardiograms were performed before, and 2 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after therapy. Blood pressures were lowered to an average of 142/98 mmHg over the 6 month period. 2. Mean velocity of circumferential fibre shortening rose from 1.1 +/- 0.09 to 1.3 +/- 0.06 diameters/s at 2 weeks and remained elevated at the end of 3 months (1.3 +/- 0.03 diameters/s) (P < 0.025), but returned to the control level in 6 months. Similarly, ejection fraction increased significantly during the same period from a control value of 65.1 +/- 4.4 to 73.4 +/- 1.8% (P < 0.025) and persisted in this range at 3 months. At 6 months the ejection fraction had returned to pretreatment levels. There were significant reductions in left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic dimensions. Left ventricular mass index decreased from 182.3 +/- 18.3 to 163.8 +/- 12.4 g/m2 after 6 months of therapy. 3. These results indicate that in the early stages of blood pressure reduction there is a temporary increase in ejection phase indices, probably related to afterload reduction. The reduction in the left ventricular mass index suggests that increased cardiac muscle mass due to elevated blood pressure may be partially reversible after long-term reduction in blood pressure.
 ...
PMID:Effect of therapy on left ventricular function in hypertension. 744 97

1. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) was isolated from five rat tissues: white adipose, skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, mammary gland and lung. 2. Specific activity of the preparations varied from 75 U/mg for skeletal muscle and 720 U/mg for adipose. 3. The preparations were further analysed using SDS-PAGE and a single component identified. The mol. wt of 61,000 Da of this component was consistent for all five of the tissue sources. 4. Significant differences in the values of the isoelectric points of the enzyme species were revealed. The values varied from 7.23 (SEM 0.022) for cardiac and lung to 7.51 (SEM 0.037) for mammary. 5. Two-dimensional electrophoresis, using isoelectric focusing in the first dimension and SDS-PAGE in the second revealed differences in the patterns of stained material derived from the five tissue sources.
 ...
PMID:Purification and characterization of lipoprotein lipase from the white adipose, skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, mammary gland and lung tissues of the rat. 822 60

The effects of 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) on isometric force and myofibrillar adenosine 5'-triphosphatase (ATPase) activity were studied in skinned cardiac trabeculae from the rat. ATP hydrolysis was enzymatically coupled to the breakdown of reduced nicotinamide adeninedinucleotide (NADH). The NADH concentration was monitored photometrically. Measurements were performed at a sarcomere length of 2.1 microm, 20 degrees C and pH 7.0. Without BDM, isometric force was 45 +/- 3 kN/m2 and the isometric ATPase activity 0.49 +/- 0.04 mM/s (mean +/- SEM, n = 31). Force gradually decreased as a function of [BDM] to 2.8 +/- 0.4% at 100 mM BDM. ATPase activity was also depressed by BDM, but to a lesser extent than force. BDM therefore has a marked effect on myofibrillar tension cost. The rate of tension redevelopment after unloaded shortening decreased from 29 +/- 2 s-1 (n = 10) without BDM to 22 +/- 1 s-1 (n = 5) at 20 mM BDM. These results, modelled in a two- and three-state scheme of cross-bridge interaction, indicate that, in cardiac muscle, BDM not only affects cross-bridge formation but, especially at high concentrations (>/= 20 mM), also causes a marked increase in the apparent rate of cross-bridge detachment.
 ...
PMID:Effects of 2,3-butanedione monoxime on cross-bridge kinetics in rat cardiac muscle. 877 44

During heart failure, force production by the heart decreases. This may be overcome by Ca2+-sensitizing drugs, which increase myofibril Ca2+ sensitivity without necessarily altering intracellular Ca2+ concentration. However, Ca2+ sensitizers slow the relaxation of intact cardiac muscle. We used diazo-2, a caged chelator of Ca2+, to study the effects of the Ca2+ sensitizers caffeine and CGP 48506 on the intrinsic relaxation rate of cardiac myofibrils. Trabeculae from rat right ventricles were skinned by 1% Triton X-100 and were activated in a 10-microL bath. In steady state experiments, CGP 48506 (10 micromol/L) shifted the force-pCa curve leftward by 0.41+/-0.03 pCa units (mean+/-SEM, n=6). An identical shift was induced by caffeine (20 mmol/L). Photolysis of diazo-2 by a flash of light (160 mJ, 310 to 400 nm) caused an immediate decrease in Ca2+-activated force produced by the trabeculae. Relaxation was fitted by a double-exponential decay, and the rate constants were found to be independent of force and preflash Ca2+ concentration. The initial fast rate, corresponding to myofibrillar relaxation, was increased from 17.3+/-2.0 to 30.9+/-3.7 s(-1) (n=4) by caffeine but was unaffected by CGP 48506 (16.6+/-1.7 and 14.4+/-2.3 s(-1) in the absence and presence of drug, respectively; n=5). Thus, myofibril relaxation need not be slowed by Ca2+-sensitizing agents but can even be accelerated. Despite similarities in their effects on myofibril Ca2+ sensitivity, caffeine and CGP 48506 affect the myofibrils at least partly via different mechanisms.
 ...
PMID:Differential effects of the Ca2+ sensitizers caffeine and CGP 48506 on the relaxation rate of rat skinned cardiac trabeculae. 913 Apr 49

The [Ca2+]i transient in heart is now thought to involve the recruitment and summation of discrete and independent "units" of Ca2+ release (Ca2+ "sparks") from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, each of which is controlled locally by single coassociated L-type Ca2+ channels ("local control theory of excitation-contraction coupling"). All prior studies on Ca2+ sparks, however, have been performed in single enzymatically dissociated heart cells under nonphysiological conditions. In order to understand the possible significance of Ca2+ sparks to normal working cardiac muscle, we used confocal microscopy to record Ca2+ sparks, spatially averaged [Ca2+]i transients and Ca2+ waves in individual cells of intact rat right ventricular trabeculae (composed of < 15 cells in cross section) microinjected with the Ca2+ indicator fluo 3 under physiological conditions ([Ca2+]o, 1 mmol/L; temperature, 33 +/- 1 degree C). Twitch force was recorded simultaneously. When stretched to optimal length (sarcomere length, 2.2 microns) and stimulated at 0.2 Hz, the trabeculae generated approximately equal to 700 micrograms of force per cell. Spatially averaged [Ca2+]i transients recorded from individual cells within a trabecula were similar to those recorded previously from single cells. The amplitude distribution of the peak ratio of Ca2+ sparks was bimodal, with maxima at ratios of 1.8 +/- 0.3 and 2.7 +/- 0.2 (mean +/- SD), respectively. The amplitude of the peak of Ca2+ sparks was approximately equal to 170 nmol/L. Ca2+ sparks occurred at a frequency of 12.0 +/- 0.8/s (mean +/- SEM) in line scans covering 94 sarcomeres. Ca2+ waves occurred randomly at a frequency of 0.57 +/- 0.08/s and propagated with a velocity of 29.5 +/- 1.7 microns/s. The extent of Ca2+ wave propagation was 3.9 +/- 0.3 sarcomere lengths (sarcomere length, 2.2 microns). Ca2+ sparks could be identified along the leading edge of the waves at intervals of 1.30 +/- 0.11 sarcomere length. Our observations suggest that (1) Ca2+ sparks, similar to those recorded in single cells, occur in trabeculae under physiological conditions and (2) coupling of Ca2+ spark generation between neighboring sites occurs and may lead to (3) the development of Ca2+ waves, which propagate under physiological conditions at a low velocity over limited distances. The results suggest that concepts of excitation-contraction coupling recently derived from isolated myocytes are applicable to intact cardiac trabeculae [corrected].
 ...
PMID:Ca2+ 'sparks' and waves in intact ventricular muscle resolved by confocal imaging. 931 46

The transverse tubular system (t-system) of cardiac muscle is a structure that allows rapid propagation of excitation into the cell interior. Using 2-photon molecular excitation microscopy and digital image-processing methods, we have obtained a comprehensive overview of the t-system of rat ventricular myocytes in living cells. We show that it is possible to quantify the morphology of the t-system in terms of average local tubule diameter, branching pattern, and local abundance of the t-system by immersing living myocytes in a dextran-linked fluorescein solution. Our data suggest that previous electron microscopic examinations of t-system structure have underestimated both the geometric complexity of the t-system morphology and the fraction of cell volume occupied by the t-system (3.6% in this species). About 40% of tubules occur between Z-lines, and the t-tubule diameter is 255+/-0.85 nm (mean+/-SEM). The t-tubules leave the outer surface of the cell in an approximately rectangular array; however, at some points junctions between the t-tubules and the surface membrane are missing. In view of the complexity of the t-system apparent from our images, we propose that the t-system be renamed the "sarcolemmal Z rete." The methods presented here are generally applicable to the quantification of the sarcolemmal Z rete and other structures within cells by fluorescence microscopy in a variety of cell types.
 ...
PMID:Examination of the transverse tubular system in living cardiac rat myocytes by 2-photon microscopy and digital image-processing techniques. 1002


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 Next >>