Time-of-day variation in vascular function.

What is the topic of this review? This report looks at the role of endothelial nitric oxide signalling in the time-of-day variation in vasoconstriction of resistance vessels. What advances does it highlight? It highlights a time-of-day variation in contraction of mesenteric arteries, characterized by a reduced contractile response to either phenylephrine or high K(+) and increased relaxation in response to acetylcholine during the active period. This time-of-day variation in contraction results from a difference in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) signalling that correlates with levels of eNOS expression, which peak during the active period and may have far reaching physiological consequences beyond regulation of blood pressure. There is a strong time-of-day variation in the vasoconstriction in response to sympathetic stimulation that may contribute to the time-of-day variation in blood pressure, which is characterized by a dip in blood pressure during the individual's rest period when sympathetic activity is low. Vasoconstriction is known to be regulated tightly by nitric oxide signalling from the endothelial cells, so we have looked at the effect of time-of-day on levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and vascular contractility. Mesenteric arteries isolated from the nocturnal rat exhibit a time-of-day variation in their contractile response to α1 -adrenoreceptor and muscarinic activation, which is characterized by a reduced vasoconstriction in response to phenylephrine and enhanced vasodilatation in response to acetylcholine during the rat's active period at night. An increase in eNOS signalling during the active period is responsible for this time-of-day difference in response to phenylephrine and acetylcholine and correlates with the large increase in eNOS expression (mRNA and protein) during the active period, possibly driven by the presence of a functioning peripheral circadian clock. This increase in eNOS signalling may function to limit the increase in peripheral resistance and therefore blood pressure during the increased sympathetic activity.

Remote ischaemic conditioning and remodelling following myocardial infarction: current evidence and future perspectives.

Remote ischaemic conditioning (rIC) has demonstrated its effectiveness as a powerful cardioprotective tool in number of preclinical and limited clinical settings. More recently, ischaemic postconditioning given after an ischaemic event such as a myocardial infarction (MI) has shown not only to reduce infarct size but also to have beneficial effects on acute remodelling post-MI and to reduce the burden of heart failure and other detrimental outcomes. Building on this platform, repeated rIC over a number of days has the potential to augment the protective process even further. This review considers the current evidence base from which the concept of rIC in the setting of post-MI remodelling has grown. It also discusses the ongoing and planned clinical trials which are attempting to elucidate whether the protection imparted by rIC in the preclinical setting can be translated to the clinic and become a realistic weapon in the clinician's armoury to tackle acute remodelling and heart failure post-MI.

Can optical recordings of membrane potential be used to screen for drug-induced action potential prolongation in single cardiac myocytes?

INTRODUCTION: Potential-sensitive dyes have primarily been used to optically record action potentials (APs) in whole heart tissue. Using these dyes to record drug-induced changes in AP morphology of isolated cardiac myocytes could provide an opportunity to develop medium throughout assays for the pharmaceutical industry. Ideally, this requires that the dye has a consistent and rapid response to membrane potential, is insensitive to movement, and does not itself affect AP morphology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recorded the AP from isolated adult guinea-pig ventricular myocytes optically using di-8-ANEPPS in a single-excitation dual-emission ratiometric system, either separately in electrically field stimulated myocytes, or simultaneously with an electrical AP recorded with a patch electrode in the whole-cell bridge mode. The ratio of di-8-ANEPPS fluorescence signal was calibrated against membrane potential using a switch-clamp to voltage clamp the myocyte. RESULTS: Our data show that the ratio of the optical signals emitted at 560/620 nm is linearly related to voltage over the voltage range of an AP, producing a change in ratio of 7.5% per 100 mV, is unaffected by cell movement and is identical to the AP recorded simultaneously with a patch electrode. However, the APD90 recorded optically in myocytes loaded with di-8-ANEPPS was significantly longer than in unloaded myocytes recorded with a patch electrode (355.6+/-13.5 vs. 296.2+/-16.2 ms; p<0.01). Despite this effect, the apparent IC50 for cisapride, which prolongs the AP by blocking IKr, was not significantly different whether determined optically or with a patch electrode (91+/-46 vs. 81+/-20 nM). DISCUSSION: These data show that the optical AP recorded ratiometrically using di-8-ANEPPS from a single ventricular myocyte accurately follows the action potential morphology. This technique can be used to estimate the AP prolonging effects of a compound, although di-8-ANEPPS itself prolongs APD90. Optical dyes require less technical skills and are less invasive than conventional electrophysiological techniques and, when coupled to ventricular myocytes, decreases animal usage and facilitates higher throughput assays.

ATP-sensitive potassium channels.

ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels link membrane excitability to metabolism. They are regulated by intracellular nucleotides and by other factors including membrane phospholipids, protein kinases and phosphatases. K(ATP) channels comprise octamers of four Kir6 pore-forming subunits associated with four sulphonylurea receptor subunits. The exact subunit composition differs between the tissues in which the channels are expressed, which include pancreas, cardiac, smooth and skeletal muscle and brain. K(ATP) channels are targets for antidiabetic sulphonylurea blockers, and for channel opening drugs that are used as antianginals and antihypertensives. This review focuses on non-pancreatic K(ATP) channels. In vascular smooth muscle, K(ATP) channels are extensively regulated by signalling pathways and cause vasodilation, contributing both to resting blood flow and vasodilator-induced increases in flow. Similarly, K(ATP) channel activation relaxes smooth muscle of the bladder, gastrointestinal tract and airways. In cardiac muscle, sarcolemmal K(ATP) channels open to protect cells under stress conditions such as ischaemia or exercise, and appear central to the protection induced by ischaemic preconditioning (IPC). Mitochondrial K(ATP) channels are also strongly implicated in IPC, but clarification of their exact role awaits information on their molecular structure. Skeletal muscle K(ATP) channels play roles in fatigue and recovery, K+ efflux, and glucose uptake, while neuronal channels may provide ischaemic protection and underlie the glucose-responsiveness of hypothalamic neurones. Current therapeutic considerations include the use of K(ATP) openers to protect cardiac muscle, attempts to develop openers selective for airway or bladder, and the question of whether block of extra-pancreatic K(ATP) channels may cause adverse cardiovascular side-effects of sulphonylureas.

Dinitrophenol pretreatment of rat ventricular myocytes protects against damage by metabolic inhibition and reperfusion.

We have investigated the protective effects of pretreatment with the mitochondrial uncoupler 2,4-dinitrophenol on the cellular damage induced by metabolic inhibition (with cyanide and iodoacetic acid) and reperfusion in freshly isolated adult rat ventricular myocytes. Damage was assessed from changes in cell length and morphology measured using video microscopy. Intracellular Ca(2+), mitochondrial membrane potential, and NADH were measured using fura-2, tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester and autofluorescence, respectively. During metabolic inhibition myocytes developed rigor, and on reperfusion 73.6+/-8.1% hypercontracted and 10.8+/-6.7% recovered contractile function in response to electrical stimulation. Intracellular Ca(2+) increased substantially, indicated by a rise in the fura-2 ratio (340/380 nm) on reperfusion from 0.86+/-0.04 to 1.93+/-0.18. Myocytes pretreated with substrate-free Tyrode containing 50 microm dinitrophenol showed reduced reperfusion injury: 29.0+/-7.4% of cells hypercontracted and 65.3+/-7.3% recovered contractile function (P<0.001 vs control). The fura-2 ratio on reperfusion was also lower at 1.01+/-0.08. Fluorescence measurements showed that dinitrophenol caused mitochondrial depolarisation, and decreased NADH. The presence of the substrates glucose and pyruvate reduced these effects, and abolished the protection against damage by metabolic inhibition and reperfusion. However protection was unaffected by block of ATP-sensitive potassium channels. Thus the protective effects of pretreatment with dinitrophenol may result from a reduction in NADH in response to mitochondrial depolarisation.

The KATP channel opener diazoxide protects cardiac myocytes during metabolic inhibition without causing mitochondrial depolarization or flavoprotein oxidation.

1. The K(ATP) channel opener diazoxide has been proposed to protect cardiac muscle against ischaemia by opening mitochondrial K(ATP) channels to depolarize the mitochondrial membrane potential, DeltaPsi(m). We have used the fluorescent dye TMRE to measure DeltaPsi(m) in adult rat freshly isolated cardiac myocytes exposed to diazoxide and metabolic inhibition. 2. Diazoxide, at concentrations that are highly cardioprotective (100 or 200 microM), caused no detectable increase in TMRE fluorescence (n=27 cells). However, subsequent application of the protonophore FCCP, which should collapse DeltaPsi(m), led to large increases in TMRE fluorescence (>300%). 3. Metabolic inhibition (MI: 2 mM NaCN+1 mM iodoacetic acid (IAA) led to an immediate partial depolarization of DeltaPsi(m), followed after a few minutes delay by complete depolarization which was correlated with rigor contracture. Removal of metabolic inhibition led to abrupt mitochondrial repolarization followed in many cells by hypercontracture, indicated by cell rounding and loss of striated appearance. 4. Prior application of diazoxide (100 microM) reduced the number of cells that hypercontracted after metabolic inhibition from 63.7+/-4.7% to 24.2+/-1.8% (P< 0.0001). 5-hydroxydeanoate (100 microM) reduced the protection of diazoxide (46.8+/-2.7% cells hypercontracted, P< 0.0001 vs diazoxide alone). 5. Diazoxide caused no detectable change in flavoprotein autofluorescence (n=26 cells). 6. Our results suggest that mitochondrial depolarization and flavoprotein oxidation are not inevitable consequences of diazoxide application in intact cardiac myocytes, and that they are also not essential components of the mechanism by which it causes protection.

Gliclazide produces high-affinity block of KATP channels in mouse isolated pancreatic beta cells but not rat heart or arterial smooth muscle cells.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Sulphonylureas stimulate insulin secretion by closing ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in the pancreatic beta-cell membrane. KATP channels are also found in other tissues, including heart and smooth muscle, where they link cellular metabolism to electrical activity. The sulphonylurea gliclazide blocks recombinant beta-cell KATP channels (Kir6.2/SUR1) but not heart (Kir6.2/SUR2A) or smooth muscle (Kir6.2/SUR2B) KATP channels with high potency. In this study, we examined the specificity of gliclazide for the native (as opposed to recombinant) KATP channels in beta cells, heart and smooth muscle. METHODS: The action of the drug was studied by whole-cell current recordings of native KATP channels in isolated pancreatic beta-cells and myocytes from heart and smooth muscle. RESULTS: Gliclazide blocked whole-cell beta-cell KATP currents with an IC50 of 184 +/- 30 nmol/l (n = 6-10) but was much less effective in cardiac and smooth muscle (IC50s of 19.5 +/- 5.4 micromol/l (n = 6-12) and 37.9 +/- 1.0 micromol/l (n = 5-10), respectively). In all three tissues, the action of the drug on whole-cell KATP currents was rapidly reversible. In inside-out patches on beta-cells, gliclazide (1 micromol/l) produced a maximum of 66 +/- 13 % inhibition (n = 5), compared with more than 98 % block in the whole-cell configuration. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Gliclazide is a high-potency sulphonylurea which shows specificity for the pancreatic beta-cell KATP channel over heart and smooth muscle. In this respect, it differs from glibenclamide. The difference in the maximal block observed in the excised patch and whole-cell recordings from beta-cells, may be due to the absence of intracellular Mg-nucleotides in the excised patch experiments.

The Na+-activated K+ channel contributes to K+ efflux in Na+-loaded guinea-pig but not rat ventricular myocytes.

Activation of the Na+-activated K+ channels (KNa channels) has been suggested to contribute to the ischaemia-induced accumulation of extracellular K+ (K+e) in the mammalian myocardium. Recent evidence shows that these channels are not present in rat ventricular myocytes [9]. We have therefore investigated the effect of raised intracellular Na+ activity (aiNa) on intracellular K+ activity (aiK) in guinea-pig myocytes, which possess the channels, and on rat ventricular myocytes which do not. The Na+-activated K+ current was activated by an increase in aiNa induced by removing extracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+ and inhibiting the Na-pump. The aiNa increased and the aiK decreased in both guinea-pig and rat myocytes superfused with Ca2+- and Mg2+-free Tyrode. The new steady-state increase in aiNa and decline in aiK were similar in both species. Inhibition of the Na-pump resulted in an additional increase in aiNa and decrease in aiK in both species. However, both the increase in aiNa and decrease in aiK were greater in guinea-pig myocytes and the decline in aiK in guinea-pig myocytes followed the development of a large Na+-activated K+ current. When Li+ replaced Na+ in the superfusate the Na+-activated K+ current did not develop and the fall in aiK was reduced. In Na+-loaded rat myocytes, which do not have a Na+-activated K+ current, the decline in aiK was reduced and blocked by 2 mM Mg2+ suggesting that a Mg2+-sensitive non-specific cation channel may be involved in the K+ efflux from rat myocytes [12]. These data suggest that KNa channels are a major route for K+ efflux from Na+-loaded guinea-pig myocytes.

A Na+-activated K+ current (IK,Na) is present in guinea-pig but not rat ventricular myocytes.

The effects of removing extracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+ on the membrane potential, membrane current and intracellular Na+ activity (aiNa) were investigated in guinea-pig and rat ventricular myocytes. Membrane potential was recorded with a patch pipette and whole-cell membrane currents using a single-electrode voltage clamp. Both guinea-pig and rat cells depolarize when the bathing Ca2+ and Mg2+ are removed and the steady-state aiNa increases rapidly from a resting value of 6.4+/- 0.6 mM to 33+/-3.8 mM in guinea-pig (n=9) and from 8.9+/-0.8 mM to 29.3+/-3.0 mM (n=5) in rat ventricular myocytes. Guinea-pig myocytes partially repolarized when, in addition to removal of the bathing Ca2+ and Mg2+, K+ was also removed, however rat cells remained depolarized. A large diltiazem-sensitive inward current was recorded in guinea-pig and rat myocytes, voltage-clamped at -20 mV, when the bathing divalent cations were removed. When the bathing K+ was removed after Ca2+ and Mg2+ depletion, a large outward K+ current developed in guinea-pig, but not in rat myocytes. This current had a reversal potential of -80+/-0.7 mV and was not inhibited by high Mg2+ or glybenclamide indicating that it is not due to activation of non-selective cation or adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive K channels. The current was not activated when Li+ replaced the bathing Na+ and was blocked by R-56865, suggesting that it was due to the activation of KNa channels.

Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on the contraction of intact, and spontaneous contraction of chemically permeabilized mammalian ventricular myocytes.

The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appear to protect the heart from ischaemia-induced arrhythmias. We have used single adult guinea-pig and rat ventricular myocytes to investigate the effects of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid on, (i) the l -type Ca2+current, (ii) twitch contraction, and (iii) the spontaneous mechanical activity induced in chemically skinned myocytes by an elevation of the superfusing [Ca2+]. Eicosapentaenoic acid reduced the size of the l -type Ca2+current in a dose-dependent manner in myocytes from both species. Inclusion of delipidated bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the Tyrode, which binds eicosapentaenoic acid, completely reversed the inhibition of the Ca2+current in both guinea-pig and rat cells. The effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on contraction were species dependent. In guinea-pig myocytes it produced a reduction in contraction size which was complex, being described by three phases. In rat cells there was an initial increase in the size of contractions, followed by a simple reduction in contraction strength. Delipidated BSA completely reversed these effects in rat cells but only partially restored twitch contraction in guinea-pig cells (60%). In saponin permeabilized cells, the frequency of the spontaneous activity evoked by elevation of [Ca2+] was reduced by micromolar concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid in cells from both species. The reduction in the amplitude of contractions caused by eicosapentaenoic acid can be explained by an inhibition of the l -type Ca2+current, and by a reduction in Ca2+released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The inhibition of the release of Ca2+from the SR reduces the frequency of [Ca2+] dependent spontaneous contractions in chemically skinned guinea-pig and rat ventricular myocytes.

The electrical and mechanical response of adult guinea pig and rat ventricular myocytes to omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Single adult guinea-pig and rat ventricular cardiac myocytes were used to study the effects of two members of the omega3 class of polyunsaturated fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, on the electrical and mechanical activity of cardiac muscle. Docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid reduced the electrical excitability of both guinea-pig and rat cells in a dose-dependent manner. Both agents produced a dose-dependent negative inotropic response in guinea-pig cells but in the rat cells there was first a dose-dependent positive inotropic effect at low concentrations (< 10 microM) followed by a negative inotropic effect at higher concentrations (> 10 microM). Possible mechanisms by which these agents affect contraction were studied using conventional electrophysiological techniques. The polyunsaturated fatty acids reduced the action potential duration and the plateau potential of the guinea-pig cells in a simple, dose-dependent manner. In contrast, the effect on the rat action potential mirrored the inotropic effect. At low concentrations (< 10 microM) there was a concentration-dependent increase in action potential duration followed by a concentration-dependent decrease at higher concentrations (> 10 microM). Both polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased the fast Na+ current and the L-type Ca2+ current in a concentration-dependent but not use-dependent manner in cells from both species. In the rat cells these agents inhibited the transient outward current resulting in an increase in the duration of the rat action potential. The effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on the Ca2+, Na+ and K+ currents underlie these changes in the action potentials in guinea-pig and rat heart cells. The effects on the L-type Ca2+ current and action potential duration can also explain both the simple negative inotropic effects of the agents on the guinea-pig cells and the more complex effects on the rat cells. These effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on membrane currents may account for their anti-arrhythmic properties.

The Na(+)-dependence of Na(+)-activated K(+)-channels (IK(Na)) in guinea pig ventricular myocytes, is different in excised inside/out patches and cell attached patches.

Single Na(+)-activated K(+)-channels were recorded from intact guinea-pig ventricular myocytes perfused with Ca-free, Mg-free Tyrode, to increase [Na+]i. The activity of these channels increases with the time of perfusion with this solution and decreases when the bathing sodium is reduced. The activity of the Na(+)-activated K(+)-channel is greater in the cell attached patches than from excised cell free patches, at the same [Na+]. It is suggested that this K+ channel is significantly active in intact cells within the physiological range of [Na]i.

Interdependence of intracellular taurine and sodium in guinea pig heart.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate the effects of raising intracellular taurine on the intracellular sodium activity (aNa1) in isolated guinea pig ventricular myocytes, and the effect of procedures that raise intracellular sodium on taurine concentration in the perfused guinea pig ventricular tissue. METHODS: Taurine was introduced into the sarcoplasm of isolated ventricular myocytes, either during cell isolation or by diffusion from a penetrating micropipette, and the effect on aNai was measured using an ion sensitive microelectrode. Guinea pig hearts, mounted on a Langendorff apparatus, were perfused with a variety of physiological media and the level of taurine in the ventricles determined using high pressure liquid chromatography. RESULTS: An increase in intracellular taurine caused by its presence during cell isolation or by diffusion from a micropipette significantly reduced the aNai of isolated myocytes at rest, during perfusion with Ca depleted solutions, or on inhibition of the Na pump. In the guinea pig ventricles, taurine at 13.0(SEM 0.6) mmol.kg-1 wet weight comprised up to 45% of the free amino acids; since plasma taurine was 64(13) mumol.litre-1, this means that in vivo a large outwardly directed gradient for taurine exists (equivalent to a free energy of 13.7 KJ.mol-1). Upon perfusion with Ca,Mg free Tyrode solution (which raises intracellular sodium markedly), a time dependent loss of taurine occurred. Both the rate of loss and the total amount lost were increased when the Na pump was also inhibited. This loss of tissue taurine was not due to release from dead or lysed cells, as it was antagonised by procedures known to reduce the rise of aNai during Ca depletion, was inhibited by beta alanine (an inhibitor of taurine transport), and the fall in tissue taurine was not correlated with the appearance of lactate dehydrogenase in the effluent. CONCLUSIONS: The data from isolated myocytes and perfused guinea pig hearts were consistent with the presence of a Na/taurine symport which is activated to cause efflux of Na and taurine when either rise above their physiological level.

The calcium paradox in isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes: effects of membrane potential and intracellular sodium.

1. Guinea-pig ventricular myocytes, isolated enzymatically without the aid of special media, show a similar sensitivity to the calcium paradox as Langendorff-perfused hearts. 2. Measurement of the intracellular activities of Na+ and Ca2+ ions, with a suction-type ion-sensitive microelectrode at rest, during calcium depletion and during inhibition of the Na+ pump (under both current and voltage clamp) yield values similar to those obtained from multicellular preparations and from isolated myocytes by other means. 3. In voltage-clamped myocytes bathed by media free of divalent cations, an inward sodium current that flows through the L-type Ca2+ channels, the rate of rise of aiNa and the strength of the contraction induced by return to normal Tyrode solution, show a similar bell-shaped dependence on the membrane potential during the period of Ca2+ deprivation. 4. The rise in aiNa that occurs in Ca(2+)-free, Mg(2+)-free media, induces an outward current which is composed of currents due to activation of the Na+ pump and K+ channels. 5. On Ca2+ repletion the loading of the cells with Ca2+ does not generate an inward current and the contracture can be reduced, in a dose-dependent way, by the introduction of BAPTA into the sarcoplasm from the solution in the voltage electrode. When [Ca2+]i is buffered by added BAPTA, the estimated amount of Ca2+ which can enter on Ca2+ repletion is sufficient to bind up to 10 mM of the BAPTA. This change in concentration is similar to that expected from the rise and fall in aiNa, seen on Ca2+ depletion and repletion, if a 3 Na+:1 Ca2+ exchange is responsible for the Ca2+ influx. 6. These data offer support for the so-called intracellular sodium hypothesis for the origin of the calcium paradox in the heart. As the effects of Ca2+ repletion can be prevented by clamping the membrane potential so that aiNa does not rise, the contribution of the other effects of Ca2+ depletion to the initiation of the calcium paradox would seem to be less important.

A sodium-activated potassium current in intact ventricular myocytes isolated from the guinea-pig heart.

A current generated by the Na-activated K channel has been identified in whole cell currents recorded from isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes. A partial activation of this current can be achieved near to the physiological range of intracellular sodium concentration [( Na+]i) when it contributes significantly to the global outward current. The decline of the Na-activated K current, the lengthening of the action potential duration and the recovery of [Na+]i occur with a similar time course during recovery from Na loading.

A novel resin-filled ion-sensitive micro-electrode suitable for intracellular measurements in isolated cardiac myocytes.

A method for the manufacture of ion-sensitive micro-electrodes, which can be readily used with small single cells, is described in detail. A glass pipette with a tip size of 1 micron, essentially similar to those used as suction electrodes in whole-cell recording, when silanized and with its tip filled with a suitable ion-sensitive resin, produces an ion-sensitive electrode with fast electrical and chemical response times. These electrodes can be applied to the cell membrane of isolated myocytes and penetration achieved without cell damage, by the application of suction. For the estimation of intracellular ionic activities they can be used in conjunction with a separate conventional KCl-filled micro-electrode or a suction voltage electrode. The technique is illustrated by the measurement of intracellular Na+, Ca2+ and pH. It is possible that these electrodes can also be used to measure local changes in ionic activity in restricted areas.

Ca2+ transient, Mg2+, and pH measurements in the cardiac cycle by 19F NMR.

19F NMR indicators have been used to measure the free cytosolic cation concentrations ([Mn+]i, where M is the atomic symbol and n is the value of the charge) of Ca2+, H+, and Mg2+ in perfused ferret hearts. The [Ca2+]i transient, cytosolic pH (pHi), and [Mg2+]i have also been followed at 16 phases in the cardiac cycle in hearts paced at 1.25 Hz at 30 degrees C. The initial [Ca2+]i rose rapidly after a 50-ms delay, was maximal at greater than 1.5 microM after 150 ms, and declined thereafter to the initial concentration. In contrast, no significant changes in pHi (pH 7.03 +/- 0.08) or [Mg2+]i (1.2 +/- 0.1 mM) were detected in the cycle. A decrease in developed pressure when the [Ca2+]i indicator (but not the pHi or [Mg2+]i indicator) was loaded into hearts was substantially reversed by the addition of 50 microM ZnCl2 to the perfusion medium. The Zn2+ was taken up into the myoplasm and displaced Ca2+ bound to the indicator, a symmetrically substituted difluoro derivative of 1,2-bis(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (5FBAPTA), as evidenced by the appearance of the Zn-5FBAPTA resonance. The decrease in developed pressure caused by 5FBAPTA, therefore, may be due to its Ca2+ buffering effect on the myoplasm. By coloading hearts with the [Ca2+]i and pHi indicators, simultaneous measurement of several [Mn+]i was demonstrated, which should provide a useful addition to the methods available to monitor cardiac function and pharmacology.

The negative inotropic effect of raised extracellular potassium and caesium ions on isolated frog atrial trabeculae.

The exposure of frog atrial trabeculae to Ringer solution containing an elevated K+ concentration, produces a depolarization of the membrane and a reduction of both the duration of the action potential and the strength of the heart beat. In voltage-clamped preparations, the effect of perfusion with K+-rich Ringer solution is threefold. First, a sustained inward current develops at the holding potential (-80 mV). Secondly, the contractions evoked by depolarizing clamp pulses are reduced: this effect which is greater upon the tonic phase of the contraction than the early phasic tension, is also seen to follow the addition of Cs+ ions to the bathing fluid; at equal concentrations K+ ions are the more effective. Thirdly, when measured with an ion-sensitive micro-electrode in ventricular trabeculae, the intracellular Na+ ion activity (aiNa) declines with a time course similar to the development of the negative inotropic effect. This suggests that the actions of raised [K+]o or [Cs+]o upon tension may be secondary to an effect on the movement of Na+ ions across the cell membrane, which by reducing aiNa may affect tension by way of the Na-Ca exchange.