MECHANISMS OF EXCITATION CONTRACTION COUPLING FAILURE DURING METABOLIC INHIBITION IN GUINEA-PIG VENTRICULAR MYOCYTES

1. The effects of complete metabolic inhibition on excitation-contraction coupling in heart were studied by exposing patch-clamped guinea-pig ventricular myocytes, loaded via the patch pipette with the Ca2+ indicator Fura-2 (0.1 mM), to carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP, 1-mu-M) and 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG, 10 mM) while simultaneously recording membrane current, Fura-2 fluorescence, and cell motion. The patch pipette solution contained Cs+ and TEA (tetraethylammonium) to partially block K+ currents. 2. During voltage clamps from a holding potential of -40 mV to a test potential of 0 mV, complete metabolic inhibition decreased the Ca2+ current (I(Ca)), activated the ATP-sensitive K+ current, modestly elevated diastolic [Ca2+]i and markedly reduced the [Ca2+]i transient without altering its voltage dependence. Active shortening was impaired and diastolic cell length decreased prior to large increases in diastolic [Ca2+]i, consistent with rigor induced by ATP depletion. Return of the [Ca2+]i transient to baseline and relaxation upon repolarization were also delayed. 3. Despite the depression of the peak [Ca2+]i transient induced by membrane depolarization during metabolic inhibition, the [Ca2+]i transient induced by a rapid exposure to 5 mM-caffeine was greater than control. The Na+-Ca2+ exchange current during the caffeine-induced [Ca2+]i transient was not affected by metabolic inhibition. 4. [Ca2+]i transients depressed by metabolic inhibition could be enhanced by augmenting I(Ca) with elevated [Ca2+]o (10 mM) and Bay K 8644 (5-mu-M). 5. To study the relationship between the magnitude of I(Ca) and the amplitude of the [Ca2+]i transient, I(Ca) was modulated either by (a) voltage clamping the cell to different membrane potentials at constant [Ca2+]o or by (b) rapidly altering [Ca2+]o immediately prior to a voltage clamp to a fixed membrane potential. Under control conditions, the relationship between the size of I(Ca) and the magnitude of the [Ca2+]i transient was the same whether I(Ca) was modulated by altering membrane potential or [Ca2+]o, suggesting that membrane potential does not significantly modulate the Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release mechanism of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. 6. After metabolic inhibition, however, the same I(Ca) released less Ca2+ than under control conditions, consistent with some impairment of the Ca2+ release mechanism. 7. These results suggest that under conditions in which excitability is maintained by controlling membrane voltage and minimizing metabolically sensitive K+ currents, the decreased [Ca2+]i transient observed during metabolic inhibition severe enough to induce rigor is caused primarily by depression of I(Ca) and not by depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores. Additional factors also modestly hinder Ca2+ release from intracellular stores during metabolic inhibition.