Heterogeneous response of isolated adult rat heart cells to insulin

Use of Isolated Adult Myocytes to Evaluate Cardiotoxicity. II. Preparation and Properties*

The preparation and properties of isolated adult cardiac myocytes are reviewed, with the goal being to evaluate their usefulness as a model system for measuring cardiotoxicity. Some important factors in cell isolation methodology which impact on the quality of the preparation are identified, along with criteria for assessing the quality of cells after isolation. By all criteria, myocytes isolated by good procedures appear to largely retain their original properties. Moreover, the distinctive behavior of adult myocytes under metabolic stress endows them with a particular usefulness as monitors of toxicity. Overall, we conclude that the art of adult heart cell isolation and culture is now sufficiently advanced for either freshly isolated cells in suspension or cells in culture to be a useful model system for toxicity studies.

Ca uptake by heart cells: I. Ca uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum of intact heart cells in suspension

Electric field stimulation of adult rat heart cells suspended in medium with 0.2 mM Ca and isoproterenol caused 45Ca uptake at a rate (5.25 pmol/mg/beat) proportional to stimulation frequency. Uptake was strongly inhibited by verapamil or thapsigargin. 45Ca autoradiography showed that stimulation dependent verapamil sensitive uptake was associated with the rod shaped cells, while the uptake by round cells was unaffected by stimulation and was verapamil-insensitive. 45Ca efflux measurements revealed a caffeine-sensitive component of uptake which was abolished by thapsigargin, and a caffeine-insensitive component. Part of the latter was sensitive to thapsigargin but not to 30 s of stimulation; another part was sensitive to such stimulation but not to thapsigargin. With longer times of stimulation, the caffeine-insensitive pool increased in size, part of which appeared to be mitochondrial Ca uptake via a thapsigargin-sensitive pool. The caffeine-sensitive pool labelled quickly in stimulated cells and its size and rate of labelling was increased by stimulation frequency (3.87 pmol/mg/beat), while the caffeine-insensitive pool labelled more slowly and was relatively insensitive to stimulation (0.77 pmol/mg/beat). We conclude that essentially all of the SR Ca pool, as defined by its involvement in excitation-contraction coupling, is released by caffeine.

Bilirubin levels in subarachnoid clot and effects on canine arterial smooth muscle cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Previous studies have suggested that bilirubin is a potential contributor to cerebral vasospasm. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether bilirubin accrues in subarachnoid clot, whether its vasoconstrictive effect could involve a direct action on arterial smooth muscle cells, and, if so, whether bilirubin affects their Ca2+ uptake.

METHODS

Subarachnoid clots were analyzed for bilirubin using high-performance liquid chromatography. The length and 45Ca2+ uptake of vascular smooth muscle cells enzymatically dissociated from canine carotid arteries were measured before and after exposure to bilirubin solution. Additional experiments were conducted on cultured smooth muscle cells from canine basilar artery and on ATP-depleted cardiac myocytes.

RESULTS

Mean +/- SE bilirubin concentration in experimental clot was 263 +/- 35.7 mumol/L. Vascular smooth muscle cells exposed to bilirubin showed progressive shortening (P < .01) and an increased uptake of 45Ca2+ (P < .001). Contraction was prevented by Ca(2+)-free media but not by verapamil. Experiments with heart myocytes showed that bilirubin caused an increased uptake of 45Ca2+ but not of [14C]sucrose.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that bilirubin accrues in subarachnoid clot, that it exerts a direct constrictive effect on arterial smooth muscle cells, and that this effect is associated with an increased uptake of Ca2+. Studies on heart myocytes suggest that the Ca2+ uptake induced by bilirubin could be due to a selective increase in membrane permeability to Ca2+.

Hemin: levels in experimental subarachnoid hematoma and effects on dissociated vascular smooth-muscle cells

Although hemin is known to exert toxic effects on a variety of cell types, its possible participation in the genesis of cerebral vasospasm has received little attention. The authors measured the concentration of hemin in experimental subarachnoid clot and studied its effects on the morphology and 45Ca++ uptake of vascular smooth-muscle cells dissociated from canine carotid artery. Craniectomies were performed in five dogs under general anesthesia, and 3 to 5 ml of autologous whole blood was deposited in the supraclinoid subarachnoid compartment. The concentration of hemin recovered by Folch extraction from clotted material removed 7 days after surgery was 390 +/- 247 microM (mean +/- standard error of the mean). Mean vascular smooth-muscle cell length after 40 minutes of exposure to 50 microM hemin was 37.3 +/- 1.2 microns (control 51.6 +/- 1.6 microns) (p < 0.01). The mean percent permeation of 45Ca++, measured by a dual label technique, of cells exposed to hemin was 200.9% +/- 23% (control 102.9% +/- 4.3%) (p < 0.01). These findings indicate that hemin accrues in subarachnoid hematoma, that it exerts a constrictive effect on vascular smooth-muscle cells, and that this effect is associated with an increased uptake of Ca++. This study demonstrates that hemin should be included in the list of potential agents that participate in the development of cerebral vasospasm.

ATP dependence of calcium uptake by the Na-Ca exchanger of adult heart cells

The ATP dependence of the Na-Ca exchanger was investigated in isolated adult rat heart cells to evaluate the extent to which ATP depletion after a period of ischemia plus reperfusion in whole hearts could limit calcium uptake by Na-Ca exchange. A standard state for measurement of Na-Ca exchange activity that could be used with cells depleted of ATP to different degrees was defined. This was a state of zero sarcolemmal gradient for sodium, potassium, and pH and was achieved by incubation of the cells for 5 minutes with EDTA, EGTA, ouabain, and nigericin. Heterogeneity of cell ATP levels was minimized by using a protocol of total ATP depletion by incubation under conditions similar to ischemia, followed by reoxygenation to give partial restoration of ATP levels. No ATP was regenerated when cells were reoxygenated in the presence of rotenone, and such cells showed a very low rate of calcium uptake. Without rotenone, cells showed an almost complete restoration of Na-Ca exchange activity, in spite of a restoration of ATP levels to only one third of control values. Thus, the dependence of calcium uptake on ATP was highly nonlinear under these conditions. The calculated Km for ATP was no more than 10% of normal ATP levels. We conclude that ATP depletion after ischemia plus reperfusion is unlikely to limit the rate of calcium uptake through Na-Ca exchange in the whole heart if at least one quarter of the ATP is restored. In addition, we measured the apparent ATP dependence of calcium uptake by Na-Ca exchange in cells under conditions in which we previously had concluded that cell ATP distributions were very heterogeneous: when cells undergo contracture during incubation with oligomycin and without glucose. A linear relation between calcium uptake rate and ATP was observed at all ATP levels. This can be understood if cells in contracture that are incubated with oligomycin cannot take up calcium because of low ATP, whereas rod-shaped cells are able to retain a full uptake capability. This result further supports our conclusion that the ATP level declines catastrophically to near zero in these oligomycin-incubated cells just before contracture.

Control of the Na-Ca exchanger in isolated heart cells. I. Induction of Na-Na exchange in sodium-loaded cells by intracellular calcium

Isolated adult rat heart cells in suspension were loaded with sodium by incubation with ouabain in the absence of calcium for 30 minutes. Addition of low levels of calcium induced accelerated rates of sodium influx and efflux, as measured with 22Na. The magnitude of calcium-induced 22Na efflux was 50-fold greater than the net rate of calcium uptake and required extracellular sodium, but not extracellular calcium, once some calcium was taken up. Calcium did not induce 86Rb efflux. The accelerated rate of 22Na efflux was prevented by verapamil, but verapamil was ineffective when added after calcium. Addition of EGTA after calcium reversed the effect of calcium, but only after incubation. Dichlorobenzamil, unlike verapamil, both prevented and reversed the induction of sodium fluxes by calcium. We conclude 1) that intracellular calcium induces Na-Na exchange through the Na-Ca exchanger in sodium-loaded cells exposed to calcium; and 2) that Na-Na exchange can be activated by calcium that enters the cell through calcium channels. We propose that this Na-Na exchange reflects the intrinsic activity of the Na-Ca exchanger.

Highly insulin-responsive isolated rat heart muscle cells yielded by a modified isolation method

Freshly isolated adipocytes or cardiac myocytes appear to be subject to unspecific stimulation during isolation and subsequent handling, e.g. with respect to glucose transport. We have developed a modified procedure that yields rat cardiomyocytes with a very low basal, i.e. non stimulated hexose uptake rate (ca. 3 pmol * s-1 * mg protein-1 at 1 mM sugar), as compared to data reported by others. This low value correlates with the reported oxygen consumption of non-beating, isolated rat hearts, when these are perfused with glucose as the only substrate. The basal rate of glucose uptake in our quiescent cardiomyocytes is slightly lower than the value measured by others in beating rat hearts in vivo. Insulin (10 nM) stimulates 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake 8- to 20-fold and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose uptake 14- to 20-fold, as compared to control. This insulin effect is markedly larger than that usually observed in isolated cardiomyocytes, but it is similar in magnitude to the stimulation of glucose transport reported for isolated, perfused rat hearts. In these cells, new stimulatory effects on the glucose transport, e.g. that of sulfhydryl reagents like phenylarsine oxide, become apparent. We conclude that the cardiomyocytes obtained by this modified method exhibit a basal glucose transport rate that is close to physiological values. These cells represent a new highly responsive model to detect and to investigate the effects of glucose transport stimulators (insulin, contraction etc.).

Measurement of Ca channel activity of isolated adult rat heart cells using 54Mn

Isolated adult rat heart cells incubated with 5 microM Mn in a medium with 1 mM Ca showed a rapid phase of Mn binding plus a slow phase of Mn uptake. The rapid phase was extracellular binding, as judged by its temperature-insensitive removal by ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether) N, N'-tetraacetic acid. The slow linear phase represented cellular uptake, as judged by its release with digitonin plus the ionophore A23187. Isoproterenol increased the linear rate of Mn uptake and induced spontaneous beating activity in some cells. Both effects were inhibited by nitrendipine. Electrical stimulation of the cells in suspension increased the linear rate of cellular Mn uptake. The increase was potentiated by isoproterenol, and inhibited by nitrendipine or verapamil. Stimulation-dependent Mn uptake (per milligram protein) was greater for cells from 5- to 6-week-old rats than for 8- to 9-month-old female retired breeder rats, in the presence of isoproterenol. Ryanodine increased the stimulation-dependent Mn uptake in the presence of isoproterenol, but not in its absence. We conclude: (i) that cellular uptake of 54 Mn is a good probe of Ca channel function; (ii) that isoproterenol promotes Mn influx by the channel in isolated heart cells; (iii) that cells from young rats (5-6 weeks) have a higher beta-adrenergically induced Ca channel activity than cells from mature rats (8-9 months); and (iv) that ryanodine promotes Ca channel activity (perhaps indirectly) in the presence of isoproterenol.

Some determinants of quality and yield in the isolation of adult heart cells from rat

We investigated the effect of changes in perfusate substrate and Ca content on the quality and yield of isolated adult rat heart cells. When 1 mM Ca was added to the recirculating perfusate 15 min after collagenase addition, the ATP level of cells in the heart 15 min later, and their morphology in histological section, was no different from when no Ca was added back. The cells subsequently isolated were of similar yield, but a greater percentage were rod-shaped, compared with cells isolated without Ca restoration to the perfusate. Increased yield could be obtained by including substrates in the perfusate in addition to glucose. Either fatty acids or amino acids were effective. We conclude that: (1) all cells in the heart are Ca tolerant at the end of enzyme perfusion; (2) the presence of substrates in addition to glucose can help cells survive the isolation process.

Insulin-like growth factors and insulin increase the contractility of neonatal rat cardiocytes in vitro

In the newborn several situations of hyperinsulinism can be associated with myocardial hypertrophy and increased contractility. Insulin and the insulin-like growth factors (IGF) are derived from a common ancestral molecule. Insulin exerts mainly metabolic action, whereas the IGFs promote cell multiplication and differentiation. Using an assay system of cultured neonatal myocardial cells the stimulatory action of insulin and the insulin-like growth factors I and II on myocardial cell contractility was investigated. Spontaneously beating aggregates of myocardial cells were synchronized by an electric impulse generator. Contractility was measured via the amplitude of contraction by an optoelectronic system. Insulin at a concentration of 6,250 and 12,500 microU/ml increased the contractility by 11 and 18%; IGF-I at a concentration of 12 and 25 ng/ml, and IGF-II at a concentration of 25 and 50 ng/ml increased the contractility by 16 and 22%, and 13 and 18%, respectively. Lower concentrations did not provoke a significant increase in contractility. Insulin only in supraphysiological doses increases the contractility of neonatal myocardial rat cells, whereas both insulin-like growth factors act in physiological concentrations. Therefore, during hyperinsulinism insulin may increase myocardial contractility via the IGF receptor and not via the insulin receptor.

Kinetic characterization and radiation-target sizing of the glucose transporter in cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles

Stereospecific glucose transport was assayed and characterized in bovine cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles. Sarcolemmal vesicles were incubated with D-[3H]glucose or L-[3H]glucose at 25 degrees C. The reaction was terminated by rapid addition of 4 mM HgCl2 and vesicles were immediately collected on glass fiber filters for quantification of accumulated [3H]glucose. Non-specific diffusion of L-[3H]glucose was never more than 11% of total D-[3H]glucose transport into the vesicles. Stereospecific uptake of D-[3H]glucose reached a maximum level by 20 s. Cytochalasin B (50 microM) inhibited specific transport of D-[3H]glucose to the level of that for non-specific diffusion. The vesicles exhibited saturable transport (Km = 9.3 mM; Vmax = 2.6 nmol/mg per s) and the transporter turnover number was 197 glucose molecules per transporter per s. The molecular sizes of the cytochalasin B binding protein and the D-glucose transport protein in sarcolemmal vesicles were estimated by radiation inactivation. These values were 77 and 101 kDa, respectively, and by the Wilcoxen Rank Sum Test were not significantly different from each other.

Developmental changes in the ultrastructure and sarcomere shortening of the isolated rabbit ventricular myocyte

Sarcomere shortening and ultrastructure of intact isolated myocytes from ventricles of three-week-old and adult rabbits were examined. Cells were fixed and embedded, and after measuring their sarcomere shortening in response to electrical stimulation, they were examined in serial thin sections by electron microscopy. This structure-function analysis showed that adult cells were significantly larger, had longer rest sarcomere lengths, greater amount and velocity of sarcomere shortening, greater velocity of reextension, and shorter contraction duration than immature cells. In immature myocytes, a thin outer shell of myofibrils enveloped a central mass of mitochondria and nuclei, but in adult cells, the cytoskeleton divided the cell into compartments with the mitochondria arranged around and interspersed among the myofibrils. The different arrangement of the organelles and the cytoskeleton at the two ages may account for the shorter rest sarcomere length in the young myocytes and may confer differing internal loads that contribute to their smaller amount and velocity of sarcomere shortening. The corbular and longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum were less demarcated in immature than in adult cells. Myocytes from both ages showed postextrasystolic potentiation, suggesting that the sarcoplasmic reticulum modulates calcium at both ages. Restitution of contractility between contractions, obtained by measuring sarcomere shortening of interpolated extrasystoles, was faster in immature than in adult cells and may reflect the structural differences in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The developmental differentiation in the sarcoplasmic reticulum suggests that changes in compartmentalization of calcium and in the distribution of putative calcium-release sites contribute to the increased contractility of adult myocytes.

Forskolin inhibition of hexose transport in cardiomyocytes

The effects of insulin, forskolin, isoproterenol, and epinephrine on 3-O-methylglucose (hexose) transport and cell cyclic AMP levels were determined in adult rat cardiomyocytes. Insulin stimulated hexose transport in these cells an average of 2.5-fold. Initial hexose transport rates at 1 mM hexose were 3.75 X 10(-2) nmol/mg cell protein/second in the absence of insulin, and 8.25 X 10(-2) nmol/mg cell protein/second in the presence of 12.3 microM insulin. Forskolin at 5 microM nearly abolished hexose transport within 3 s of exposure, but did not increase cell cyclic AMP concentrations within 9 s. The apparent Ki for hexose transport inhibition was about 0.3 microM forskolin. Epinephrine and isoproterenol at 50 microM increased cell cyclic AMP 4-fold during 9 s exposure, but did not affect hexose transport. Treatment of cells with these catecholamines of forskolin for up to 99 s increased cell cyclic AMP, but only forskolin inhibited hexose transport. We conclude from these results that forskolin acts on hexose transport independent of its action on adenyl cyclase, and that cyclic AMP does not inhibit or stimulate hexose transport.

Use of adult rat cardiomyocytes to study cardiac glycogen metabolism

The use of adult rat cardiomyocytes to model cardiac glycogen metabolism was investigated by monitoring the response of glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthase to epinephrine and insulin treatment. Cardiomyocytes derived from normal rats respond to epinephrine in the range of 1 X 10(-7) to 5.5 X 10(-6) M epinephrine with an increase in the percent of phosphorylase in the AMP-independent form from 11.5 to 24.8%. In the same cells, insulin in the range of 10(-9) to 10(-7) M increased the glucose 6-phosphate independent form of glycogen synthase from 30.5 to 40.5%. Cells derived from alloxan-diabetic hearts exhibit a hypersensitive phosphorylase activation and a refractile synthase inactivation in response to epinephrine treatment. This pattern is similar to that recorded using perfused heart preparations. The data presented suggests that adult rat cardiomyocytes represent a valid model of glycogen metabolism in both the normal and alloxan-diabetic rat.

Phosphorylation of rat heart glycogen synthase: studies in cardiomyocytes and in vitro phosphorylations with cAMP-dependent kinase and protein phosphatase-1

The phosphorylation of glycogen synthase has been studied in freshly isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes. Six peaks of 32P-labeled tryptic peptides are recovered via C-18 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) when synthase is immunoprecipitated from 32P-labeled cardiomyocytes and digested with trypsin. When epinephrine treated cells are used as a source of enzyme, the same HPLC profile is obtained with a dramatic enhancement of 32P recovered in two of the HPLC peaks. In vitro phosphorylation of rat heart synthase by cAMP-dependent protein kinase stimulates the conversion of synthase from the I to the D form and results in the recovery of the same tryptic peptides from the C-18 as is the case for synthase derived from cardiomyocytes. Treatment of cAMP-dependent kinase phosphorylated synthase with protein phosphatase-1 leads to a reactivation of the enzyme and a dephosphorylation of the same tryptic peptides that are selectively phosphorylated in epinephrine treated cardiomyocytes. These results are discussed in relation to hormonal control of glycogen metabolism in cardiac tissue.

Inhibition of calcium influx in isolated adult rat heart cells by ATP depletion

Using 45Ca, indo1, and quin2, calcium uptake was measured in isolated quiescent adult rat heart cells under different metabolic conditions. Exposure of cells in a medium containing 1 mM CaCl2 to rotenone and uncoupler resulted in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion from 17.08 +/- 2.26 to 0.63 +/- 0.11 nmol/mg within 8 minutes, and the cells went into contracture. In this time, the cells lost 1.65 +/- 0.1 nmol Ca/mg of total rapidly exchangeable cellular calcium, and the level of free cytosolic calcium as measured by indo1 rose from 47.4 +/- 16.3 nM to 79.8 +/- 27.6 nM. The subsequent rate of rise of intracellular free calcium concentration was just 4 nM/min for at least 40 minutes. Therefore, we investigated the effect of ATP depletion on the rate of calcium entry. In cells loaded with sodium by ouabain treatment without calcium, the initial rate of calcium influx on calcium addition was inhibited by 82-84% when cellular ATP was depleted, as measured by 45Ca or indo1. Quin2 also showed a strong inhibition of calcium influx by ATP depletion, but itself also caused a strong inhibition of calcium influx. The rate of calcium influx declined even further in ATP-depleted cells after the initial influx: Between 1 and 12 minutes after calcium addition, the residual 45Ca uptake rate of the first minute was inhibited by an additional 90%. We conclude that ATP depletion per se does not quickly elevate cytoplasmic free calcium and that such an elevation is prevented by a very strong inhibition of the rate of calcium entry.

Intracellular free Ca2+ and the hypercontracture of adult rat heart myocytes

The Ca2+ sensitivity of a population of isolated adult rat heart myocytes has been related to the Na+ content of the cells prior to Ca2+ exposure, and the intracellular free Ca2+ as reported by quin2 fluorescence when the cells are challenged with millimolar external Ca2+. Myocytes exposed to Ca2+ during quin2 loading show a resting intracellular free Ca2+ of 150 +/- 30 nM and retain the rod cell morphology of heart cells in situ. The myocytes take up Na+ and lose K+ when incubated in the cold in the absence of Ca2+. Large numbers of these rod-shaped, Na+-loaded myocytes hypercontract into grossly distorted round cell forms when exposed to physiological levels of Ca2+. The number of cells that hypercontract is proportional to the Na+ content of the cells prior to Ca2+ addition and can be directly related to the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration attained following Ca2+ addition. Fifty percent of the cells in a myocyte population hypercontract when the internal free Ca2+ concentration reported by quin2 reaches 400 nM and virtually all of the cells hypercontract when this value reaches 1 microM. The entry of Ca2+ into Na+-loaded myocytes is biphasic with one phase inhibited by Ca2+ channel blockade. This suggests that Ca2+ enters Na+-loaded myocytes by the Ca2+ channel as well as by Na+/Ca2+ exchange.

The control of sugar uptake by metabolic demand in isolated adult rat heart cells

To investigate the control of sugar uptake by metabolic demand, we used isolated quiescent adult rat heart cells in suspension, under conditions similar to those found during anoxia. Metabolic demand was varied by exposing cells to rotenone plus various levels of p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. Without glucose, the time taken for half of the cells to undergo contracture was inversely proportional to the metabolic demand as measured by the rate of lactate production. For any metabolic demand, the onset of contracture was preceded by a sudden drop in adenosine triphosphate. The permeability of contracted cells to glucose was investigated using 3-O-methylglucose. The rate of 3-O-methylglucose uptake by such cells was strongly dependent on the time taken for half the cells to undergo contracture, with low rates at low times to half contracture, and insulin-like rates at high times to half contracture. This suggests that the full induction of glucose transport by metabolic demand can be prematurely curtailed by the loss of adenosine triphosphate. This phenomenon appeared to limit glucose utilization in cells with a high metabolic demand when glucose was present: such cells underwent contracture unless insulin was also present, the rate of glucose uptake as measured with 2-deoxyglucose was inhibited, and the rate of lactate production was inhibited. Isoproterenol depressed glucose transport by two mechanisms. First, by stimulating the basal metabolic demand of the cell it reduced the time taken for half the cells to undergo contracture and, hence, the level of induced sugar transport. Second, it significantly delayed the onset of sugar permeability with respect to the contracture event.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Modulation of uncoupler-induced sugar uptake in isolated adult rat heart cells by isoproterenol

When cells (2.4 mg/ml) in the presence of glucose were exposed to 0.15 microM p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), the time until 50% of the rod-shaped cells had undergone contracture was more than twice as long for cells without isoproterenol as for cells with isoproterenol. The cause of this large effect was revealed in experiments without glucose where 3-O-methylglucose entry, ATP levels, and cellular configuration were measured simultaneously. It was found that the onset of contracture was almost coincident with the decline in total measured ATP, suggesting that, in any cell, contracture was accompanied by a sudden and total ATP loss. In control cells, FCCP stimulated 3-O-methylglucose entry at or before the time this ATP catastrophe occurred. In cells exposed to isoproterenol, however, the stimulation of 3-O-methylglucose entry by FCCP did not occur until after the ATP catastrophe, and the extent of stimulation was reduced. This suggests that, when glucose was present, the FCCP-induced glucose influx was sufficient to significantly delay the onset of contracture in control cells but not in cells treated with isoproterenol. This conclusion was borne out by the observation that the effect of isoproterenol on contracture could be overcome with insulin.