Optical probe responses on sarcoplasmic reticulum: oxacarbocyanines as probes of membrane potential

Mechanism of chloride-dependent release of Ca2+ in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of rabbit skeletal muscle

We investigated the effect of Cl- on the Ca2+ permeability of rabbit skeletal muscle junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) using 45Ca2+ fluxes and single channel recordings. In 45Ca2+ efflux experiments, the lumen of the SR was passively loaded with solutions of 150 mM univalent salt containing 5 mM 45Ca2+. Release of 45Ca2+ was measured by rapid filtration in the presence of extravesicular 0.4-0.8 microM free Ca2+ and 150 mM of the same univalent salt loaded into the SR lumen. The rate of release was 5-10 times higher when the univalent salt equilibrated across the SR-contained Cl- (Tris-Cl, choline-Cl, KCl) instead of an organic anion or other halides (gluconate-, methanesulfonate-, acetate-, HEPES-, Br-, I-). Cations (K+, Tris+) could be interchanged without a significant effect on the release rate. To determine whether Cl- stimulated ryanodine receptors, we measured the stimulation of release by ATP (5 mM total) and caffeine (20 mM total) and the inhibition by Mg2+ (0.8 mM estimated free) in Cl(-)-free and Cl(-)-containing solutions. The effects of ATP, caffeine, and Mg2+ were the largest in K-gluconate and Tris-gluconate, intermediate in KCl, and notably poor or absent in choline-Cl and Tris-Cl. Procaine (10 mM) inhibited the caffeine-stimulated release measured in K-gluconate, whereas the Cl- channel blocker clofibric acid (10 mM) but not procaine inhibited the caffeine-insensitive release measured in choline-Cl. Ruthenium red (20 microM) inhibited release in all solutions. In SR fused to planar bilayers we identified a nonselective Cl- channel (PCl: PTris: PCa = 1:0.5:0.3) blocked by ruthenium red and clofibric acid but not by procaine. These conductive and pharmacological properties suggested the channel was likely to mediate Cl(-)-dependent SR Ca2+ release. The absence of a contribution of ryanodine receptors to the Cl(-)-dependent release were indicated by the lack of an effect of Cl- on the open probability of this channel, a complete block by procaine, and a stimulation rather than inhibition by clofibric acid. A plug model of Cl(-)-dependent release, whereby Cl- removed the inhibition of the nonselective channel by large anions, was formulated under the assumption that nonselective channels and ryanodine receptor channels operated separately from each other in the terminal cisternae. The remarkably large contribution of Cl- to the SR Ca2+ permeability suggested that nonselective Cl- channels may control the Ca2+ permeability of the SR in the resting muscle cell.

Depolarization-induced calcium release from isolated triads measured with impermeant fura-2

Depolarization-induced Ca2+ release was studied in a mixture of triads and terminal cisternae isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. The vesicles were actively loaded with known amounts of Ca2+ in the absence of precipitating anions in a solution containing 100 mM K propionate buffer. Changes in extravesicular Ca2+ were monitored with 10 microM Fura-2 (membrane impermeant form). Ca2+ release was initiated by diluting an aliquot of the loaded vesicles into a TEACl release solution designed to maintain a constant [K+].[Cl-] product. Fast release, defined as the percentage of total Ca2+ loaded which released in less than 10 sec, occurred when extravesicular free Ca2+ was in the submicromolar range and was unaffected by 5 mM caffeine under depolarizing conditions, change in external pH to 6.5, and an increase in external Mg2+ concentration from 0.1 to 0.2 mM. Thus, the Ca2+ release measured in these studies is distinct from Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release. The fast release more than doubled when a greater dilution (1:20 versus 1:10) of the loaded vesicles into the release solution, which would produce a larger depolarization, was used. The percentage of loaded Ca2+ which released rapidly in a particular triad preparation was similar to the percentage of vesicles structurally coupled as visualized by electron microscopy.

Ca2+ pumping ATPase of cardiac sarcolemma is insensitive to membrane potential produced by K+ and Cl- gradients but requires a source of counter-transportable H+

The sensitivity of the Ca2+ pumping ATPase of bovine cardiac sarcolemma (SL) to changes in membrane potential was studied in a preparation of sealed SL vesicles. Membrane potential was imposed by preincubating the vesicles in media of defined ion composition (K+, Cl-, choline+ and gluconate-) and diluting into media of differing ion composition. The durations of the ion gradients and relative ion permeabilities were determined in separate experiments by the dependence of the half time for net K+ (or choline+) movement coupled with these anions (Cl- or gluconate-), registered by the fluorescence of 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (Chiu, V.C.K., Haynes, D.H. 1980. J. Membrane Biol. 56:203-218). Relative permeabilities were: 1.0, K+; greater than or equal to 10.0, 1 microM valinomycin-K+; 4.0, Cl-; 0.66, choline+; 0.38, gluconate-. Durations of the gradients ranged between 17 sec (KCl, valinomycin) to 195 sec (K(+)-gluconate-). In separate experiments, active Ca2+ uptake was monitored using chlorotetracycline (CTC) fluorescence, a technique validated by 45-Ca2+ measurements (Dixon, D., Brandt, N., Haynes, D.H. 1984. J. Biol. Chem. 259:13737-13741). Active Ca2+ uptake was initiated in the presence of monovalent ion gradients. The values of the membrane potentials (Em) imposed by the monovalent ion gradients were calculated using the ion concentrations, their relative permeabilities and the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation. No effect of membrane potential on transport rate was observed (less than or equal to 4%, for 5-7% SD) for imposed potentials as extreme as greater than or equal to +71 and less than or equal to -67 mV. Formal analysis shows that the above observations are not compatible with models in which the Ca2+ pumping ATPase functions in an electrogenic or charge-uncompensated fashion. Further experimentation showed that the pump rate is slowed when uptake is measured at less-than-adequate concentrations of buffer (5 vs. 25 mM HEPES/Tris). This, together with further control experiments using nigericin and FCCP, gave evidence that the pump requires a source of counter-transportable H+ in the vesicle lumen. The above experimentation also underlines the need for control of internal pH to obviate erroneous interpretation of ion perturbation experiments. The results are compared with results obtained with the Ca2+ ATPase pump of skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Charge changes in sarcoplasmic reticulum and Ca2+-ATPase induced by calcium binding and release: a study using lipophilic ions

Changes in the charge of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles are studied using lipophilic ions, which are adsorbed by the membrane phase. Upon addition of MgATP, phenyldicarbaundecaborane (PCB-) and tetraphenylboron (TPB-) are taken up by the SR vesicles, while tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+) is released into the water phase. The PCB- uptake occurs as well under conditions when SR membrane is shunted by high Cl- concentration. MgATP induces minor additional binding of PCB- in the presence of oxalate and it is followed by release of the lipophilic anion from the vesicles. EGTA partly reverses the ATP effect, and calcium ionophore A23187 plus EGTA reverses it completely. Vesicles that were preliminarily loaded by Ca2+ demonstrated higher passive and lower ATP-dependent PCB- binding. Activation of isolated Ca2+-ATPase in the presence of 0.1 mM EGTA results in PCB- release into the medium and additional TPP+ binding to the enzyme. We suggest that the redistribution of the lipophilic ions between the water phase and SR membrane reflects charge changes in Ca2+-binding sites inside both SR vesicles and Ca2+-ATPase molecules in the course of Ca2+ translocation.

Effect of halothane on Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles isolated from rat skeletal muscle

Halothane induces the release of Ca2+ from a subpopulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles that are derived from the terminal cisternae of rat skeletal muscle. Halothane-induced Ca2+ release appears to be an enhancement of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release. The low-density sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles which are believed to be derived from nonjunctional sarcoplasmic reticulum lack the capability of both Ca2+-induced and halothane-induced Ca2+ release. Ca2+ release from terminal cisternae vesicles induced by halothane is inhibited by Ruthenium red and Mg2+, and require ATP (or an ATP analogue), KCl (or similar salt) and extravesicular Ca2+. Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release has similar characteristics.

The rate of Ca2+ translocation by sarcoplasmic reticulum (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase measured with intravesicular arsenazo III

Release of Ca2+ from the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase into the interior of intact sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles was measured using arsenazo III, a metallochromic indicator of Ca2+. Arsenazo III was placed inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles by making the vesicles transiently leaky with an osmotic gradient in the presence of arsenazo III. External arsenazo III was then removed by centrifugation. Addition of ATP to the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase in the presence of Ca2+ causes the rapid phosphorylation of the enzyme at which time the bound Ca2+ becomes inaccessible to external EGTA. The release of Ca2+ from the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase to the interior of the vesicle measured with intravesicular arsenazo III was much slower indicating that there is an occluded form of the Ca2+-binding site which precedes the release of Ca2+ into the vesicle. The rate of Ca2+ accumulation by sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles is increased by K+ (5-100 mM) and ATP (50-1000 microM) but the initial rate of Ca2+ translocation measured after the simultaneous addition of ATP and EGTA to vesicles that were preincubated in Ca2+ was not influenced by these concentrations of K+ and ATP.

The effects of valinomycin on ion movements across the sarcoplasmic reticulum in frog muscle

The effects of valinomycin on the elemental composition and the fractional volume of the terminal cisternae (t.c.) of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (s.r.) were determined in rapidly frozen frog semitendinosus muscles. The concentrations of valinomycin used for the electron probe studies (5 microM) had no effect on tetanus tension or t.c. volume (2.% of fibre volume). Mitochondria were markedly swollen and their K content was significantly increased in both the resting and the tetanized valinomycin-treated muscles. Valinomycin had no effect on the concentration of Na, Mg, P, Cl, K and Ca in the t.c. of resting muscles. In untreated, tetanized muscles, Ca2+ release was accompanied by the uptake of K and Mg into the t.c. in an amount that was significantly less than the positive charge removed through Ca2+ release, confirming previous observations showing an apparent charge deficit (Somlyo, Gonzalez-Serratos, Shuman, McClellan & Somlyo, 1981). Valinomycin abolished the apparent charge deficit: in tetanized, valinomycin-treated muscles, the uptake of K into the t.c. was significantly (P less than 0.001) greater than in the untreated muscles and Mg uptake also remained highly significant. It is suggested that Ca2+ release from activated muscle is an electrogenic process and that the K+ conductance of the s.r. in untreated frog muscles is insufficient to allow charge neutralization of the Ca2+ current during release. The increase in K+ permeability caused by valinomycin permits the greater counter movement of K+ under the combined influence of the electrical potential generated by outward Ca2+ movement and the acidic cation binding proteins in the lumen of the s.r. The results are consistent with the proposal (Somlyo et al. 1981) that in normal frog muscles not treated with valinomycin, the apparent positive charge deficit observed after a tetanus reflects the movement of protons and, possibly, organic cations.

Ionic changes in the mitotic apparatus at the metaphase/anaphase transition

We have employed a series of permeant, nontoxic, fluorescent probes to detect changes in ionic conditions within the mitotic apparatus of living endosperm cells of Haemanthus during the transition from metaphase to anaphase. Fluorescence emission intensity measurements from the spindle for chlorotetracycline (CTC) decline before the onset of anaphase, indicating a reduction in the amount of membrane-associated Ca2+ and suggesting an efflux of Ca2+ from membrane compartments into the spindle. Subsequent to the onset of anaphase, we observe increases in fluorescence with both 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) and 3,3'-dipentyl 2,2'-dioxacarbocyanine (diO-C5(3)), sensitive to cationic and anionic charges at membrane surfaces, respectively. The increases with ANS and diO-C5(3) suggest that redistributions of ions within the spindle accompany anaphase motion. During the metaphase/anaphase transition, spindle membrane content remains constant, as evidenced by unchanging fluorescence with the hydrophobic probe, N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (NPN). Shifts in emission intensity from the nonspindle cytoplasm or from the spindle poles do not accompany the changes in fluorescence we observe in the spindle, suggesting that any ionic fluxes responsible for the changes in fluorescence are restricted to the spindle domain.

Calcium release and ionic changes in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of tetanized muscle: an electron-probe study

Approximately 60-70% of the total fiber calcium was localized in the terminal cisternae (TC) in resting frog muscle as determined by electron-probe analysis of ultrathin cryosections. During a 1.2 s tetanus, 59% (69 mmol/kg dry TC) of the calcium content of the TC was released, enough to raise total cytoplasmic calcium concentration by approximately 1 mM. This is equivalent to the concentration of binding sites on the calcium-binding proteins (troponin and parvalbumin) in frog muscle. Calcium release was associated with a significant uptake of magnesium and potassium into the TC, but the amount of calcium released exceeded the total measured cation accumulation by 62 mEq/kg dry weight. It is suggested that most of the charge deficit is apparent, and charge compensation is achieved by movement of protons into the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and/or by the movement of organic co- or counterions not measured by energy dispersive electron-probe analysis. There was no significant change in the sodium or chlorine content of the TC during tetanus. The unchanged distribution of a permeant anion, chloride, argues against the existence of a large and sustained transSR potential during tetanus, if the chloride permeability of the in situ SR is as high as suggested by measurements on fractionated SR. The calcium content of the longitudinal SR (LSR) during tetanus did not show the LSR to be a major site of calcium storage and delayed return to the TC. The potassium concentration in the LSR was not significantly different from the adjacent cytoplasmic concentration. Analysis of small areas of I-band and large areas, including several sarcomeres, suggested that chloride is anisotropically distributed, with some of it probably bound to myosin. In contrast, the distribution of potassium in the fiber cytoplasm followed the water distribution. The mitochondrial concentration of calcium was low and did not change significantly during a tetanus. The TC of both tetanized and resting freeze-substituted muscles contained electron-lucent circular areas. The appearance of the TC showed no evidence of major volume changes during tetanus, in agreement with the estimates of unchanged (approximately 72%) water content of the TC obtained with electron-probe analysis.

The mechanism of voltage-sensitive dye responses on sarcoplasmic reticulum

The mechanism of voltage-sensitive dye responses was analyzed on sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles to assess the changes in membrane potential related to Ca2+ transport. The absorbance and fluorescence responses of 3,3'-diethyl-2,2'-indodicarbocyanine and oxonol VI during ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport are influenced by the effect of accumulated Ca2+ upon the surface potential of the vesicle membrane. These observations place definite limitations on the use of these probes as indicators of ion-diffusion potential in processes which involve large fluctuations in free Ca2+ concentrations. Nile Blue A appeared to produce the cleanest optical signal to negative transmembrane potential, with least direct interference from Ca2+, encouraging the use of Nile Blue A for measurement of the membrane potential of sarcoplasmic reticulum in vivo and in vitro. 1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid (5)-1-(p-sulfophenyl)-3 methyl, 5-pyrazolone pentamethinoxonol (WW 781) gave no optical response during ATP-induced Ca2+ transport and responded primarily to changes in surface potential on the same side of the membrane where the dye was applied. Binding of these probes to the membrane plays a major role in the optical response to potential, and changes in surface potential influence the optical response by regulating the amount of membrane-bound dye. The observations are consistent with the electrogenic nature of ATP-dependent Ca2+ transport and indicate the generation of about 10 mV inside-positive membrane potential during the initial phase of Ca2+ translocation. The potential generated during Ca2+ transport is rapidly dissipated by passive ion fluxes across the membrane.

Ion-induced release of calcium from isolated sarcoplasmic reticulum

Choline Cl addition to either longitudinal reticulum or terminal cisternae of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum caused release of Ca2+ which had previously accumulated in the presence of ATP. However the extent of release was considerably greater in terminal cisternae. Ca2+ accumulation and release by terminal cisternae were also observed using chlorotetracycline as a probe for membrane-associated Ca2+. Among a number of salts and ions tested for effectiveness in causing Ca2+ release the order was gluconate- less than cacodylate- less than isethionate- = methane sulfonate- less than methylsulfate- less than SCN- for anions, and K+ = Na+ = Li+ less than choline+ = tetramethylammonium+ for cations. Valinomycin enhanced Ca2+ accumulation in the presence of ATP both in the absence and presence of the releasing agent, choline Cl. The concentration of sucrose in the medium exerted no discernible effect on the rate or extent of Ca2+ release from terminal cisternae. The rate of release was estimated using a stopped-flow mixing apparatus. The rapid phase of release was complete in 6 sec when choline Cl or KSCN were employed to initiate release. Ca2+ efflux was slower when release was initiated by EGTA addition. The estimated rate of release was 4-6 nmol/mg protein/sec. The fluorescent probe, 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate was employed to estimate the influence of ions on the surface potential of terminal cisternae. A broad inverse correlation was observed between the fluorescence of the probe in the presence of various salts and their ability to induce Ca2+ release.

Ionic control of germination of Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores

Encystment and germination of Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores involve a rapid and radical transformation of the motile but nongrowing spore into a sessile, growing germling. Certain inorganic ions, notably 50 mM KCl, are efficient inducers of germination. By use of the carbocyanine dye DiO-C6-(3), we found that KCl depolarizes the plasma membrane of zoospores and noted good correlation between depolarization and subsequent germination. Zoospores avidly accumulated K+ ions from the medium, attaining an internal concentration of over 50 mM and a concentration gradient of 2,500. Sodium ions, by contrast, were expelled. Internal K+ was required for normal germination but its function is not known. Zoospores also took up considerable amounts of calcium; most of this was associated with the external surface and appeared to be necessary for maintenance of zoospore integrity. KCl (50 mM) and other salts displaced surface calcium but this was not in itself sufficient to induce germination. The calcium ionophore A23187, in the presence of external calcium, was an effective inducer of germination, suggesting a possible role for cytosolic calcium in triggering the transformation. We propose that the first step in the induction of germination by salts is depolarization of the plasma membrane; subsequent events require the intervention of cytoplasmic signals.