ABSTRACT
AIMS: The contraction of a heart cell is controlled by Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release between L-type Ca(2+) channels (LCCs) in the cell membrane/T-tubules (TTs) and ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). During heart failure, LCC-RyR signalling becomes defective. The purpose of the present study was to reveal the ultrastructural mechanism underlying the defective LCC-RyR signalling and contractility. METHODS AND RESULTS: In rat models of heart failure produced by transverse aortic constriction surgery, stereological analysis of transmission electron microscopic images showed that the volume density and the surface area of junctional SRs and those of SR-coupled TTs were both decreased in failing heart cells. The TT-SR junctions were displaced or missing from the Z-line areas. Moreover, the spatial span of individual TT-SR junctions was markedly reduced in failing heart cells. Numerical simulation and junctophilin-2 knockdown experiments demonstrated that the decrease in junction size (and thereby the constitutive LCC and RyR numbers) led to a scattered delay of Ca(2+) release activation. CONCLUSIONS: The shrinking and eventual absence of TT-SR junctions are important mechanisms underlying the desynchronized and inhomogeneous Ca(2+) release and the decreased contractile strength in heart failure. Maintaining the nanoscopic integrity of TT-SR junctions thus represents a therapeutic strategy against heart failure and related cardiomyopathies.
Subject(s)
Calcium Signaling , Cell Membrane/ultrastructure , Heart Failure/pathology , Myocardial Contraction , Myocytes, Cardiac/ultrastructure , Sarcoplasmic Reticulum/ultrastructure , Action Potentials , Animals , Calcium Channels, L-Type/metabolism , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Cell Shape , Cells, Cultured , Computer Simulation , Disease Models, Animal , Excitation Contraction Coupling , Gene Knockdown Techniques , Heart Failure/genetics , Heart Failure/metabolism , Heart Failure/physiopathology , Male , Membrane Proteins/genetics , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Microscopy, Electron, Transmission , Models, Cardiovascular , Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism , RNA Interference , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel/metabolism , Sarcoplasmic Reticulum/metabolism , Time Factors , TransfectionABSTRACT
Formins have been paid much attention for their potent nucleating activity. However, the connection between the in vivo functions of AtFHs (Arabidopsis thaliana formin homologs) and their effects on actin organization is poorly understood. In this study, we characterized the bundling activity of AtFH8 in vitro and in vivo. Biochemical analysis showed that AtFH8(FH1FH2) could form dimers and bundle preformed actin filaments or induce stellar structures during actin polymerization. Expression of truncated forms of AtFH8 and immunolocalization analysis showed that AtFH8 localized primarily to nuclear envelope in interphase and to the new cell wall after cytokinesis, depending primarily on its N-terminal transmembrane domain. GUS histochemical staining showed AtFH8 was predominantly expressed in Arabidopsis root meristem, vasculature, and outgrowth points of lateral roots. The primary root growth and lateral root initiation of atfh8 could be decreased by latrunculin B (LatB). Analysis of the number of dividing cells in Arabidopsis root tips showed that much fewer dividing cells in Lat B-treated atfh8 plants than wild-type plants, which indicates that AtFH8 was involved in cell division. Actin cytoskeleton in root meristem of atfh8-1 was more sensitive to LatB treatment than that of wild-type. Altogether, our results indicate that AtFH8 is an actin filament nucleator and bundler that functions in cell division and root development.
