• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.8-12
• /
• 2010

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate ($IP_3$) receptor ($IP_3R$)-mediated signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes including fertilization, apoptosis and neuronal function. Although cardiac myocytes express the $IP_3R$, its pathophysiological role has not been clearly understood because of limited selectivity of currently available pharmacological blockers. In the present study we constructed shRNA-expressing adenovirus to knock-down the type 2 $IP_3R$ ($IP_3R2$), a major subtype in cardiac ventricular myocytes, and demonstrated that the virus successfully eliminated the expression and localization of the $IP_3R2$. These results may provide a reliable tool for probing pathophysiological roles of the $IP_3R2$ in isolated intact cardiac myocytes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.386-392
• /
• 2012

The endothelin (ET) signaling pathway controls many physiological processes in myocardium and often becomes upregulated in heart diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of ET receptor upregulation on the contractile function of adult ventricular myocytes. Primary cultured adult rat ventricular myocytes were used as a model system of ET receptor overexpression in the heart. Endothelin receptor type A ($ET_A$) or type B ($ET_B$) was overexpressed by Adenoviral infection, and the twitch responses of infected ventricular myocytes were measured after ET-1 stimulation. Overexpression of $ET_A$ exaggerated positive inotropic effect (PIE) and diastolic shortening of ET-1, and induced a new twitch response including twitch broadening. On the contrary, overexpression of $ET_B$ increased PIE of ET-1, but did not affect other two twitch responses. Control myocytes expressing endogenous receptors showed a parallel increase in twitch amplitude and systolic $Ca^{2+}$ in response to ET-1. However, intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ did not change in proportion to the changes in contractility in myocytes overexpressing $ET_A$. Overexpression of $ET_A$ enhanced both systolic and diastolic contractility without parallel changes in $Ca^{2+}$. Differential regulation of this nature indicates that upregulation of $ET_A$ may contribute to diastolic myocardial dysfunction by selectively targeting myofilament proteins that regulate resting cell length, twitch duration and responsiveness to prevailing $Ca^{2+}$.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.197-210
• /
• 2000

Suppressive role of $Na^+-Ca^{2+}$ exchange in myocardial tension generation was examined in the negative frequency-force relationship (FFR) of electric field stimulated left atria (LA) from postnatal developing rat heart and in the whole-cell clamped adult rat ventricular myocytes with high concentration of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ buffer (14 mM EGTA). LA twitch amplitudes, which were suppressed by cyclopiazonic acid in a postnatal age-dependent manner, elicited frequency-dependent and postnatal age-dependent enhancements after $Na^+-reduced,\;Ca^{2+}-depleted$ (26 Na-0 Ca) buffer application. These enhancements were blocked by caffeine pretreatment with postnatal age-dependent intensities. In the isolated rat ventricular myocytes, stimulation with the voltage protocol roughly mimicked action potential generated a large inward current which was partially blocked by nifedipine or $Na^+$ current inhibition. 0 Ca application suppressed the inward current by $39{\pm}4%$ while the current was further suppressed after 0 Na-0 Ca application by $53{\pm}3%.$ Caffeine increased this inward current by $44{\pm}3%$ in spite of 14 mM EGTA. Finally, the $Na^+$ current-dependent fraction of the inward current was increased in a stimulation frequency-dependent manner. From these results, it is concluded that the $Ca^{2+}$ exit-mode (forward-mode) $Na^+-Ca^{2+}$ exchange suppresses the LA tension by extruding $Ca^{2+}$ out of the cell right after its release from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in a frequency-dependent manner during contraction, resulting in the negative frequency-force relationship in the rat LA.