RESUMO
The effects of caffeine on the process of excitation-contraction coupling in amphibian skeletal muscle fibers were investigated using the confocal spot detection technique. This method permits to carefully discriminate between caffeine effects on the primary sources of Ca2+ release at the Z-lines where the triads are located and secondary actions on other potential Ca Release sources. Our results demonstrate that 0.5 mM caffeine potentiates and prolongs localized action-potential evoked Ca2+ transients recorded at the level of the Z-lines, but that 1mM only prolongs them. The effects at both doses are reversible. At the level of the M-line, localized Ca2+ transients displayed more variability in the presence of 1 mM caffeine than in control conditions. At this dose of caffeine, extra-junctional sources of Ca2+ release also were observed occasionally.