AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 272, Issue 1 C310-C317, Copyright © 1997 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Effect of the organic Ca2+ channel blocker D-600 on sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake in skeletal muscle

A. Ortega, H. Gonzalez-Serratos and J. R. Lepock
Department of Physiology, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201, USA.

Experiments were undertaken to study the possibility that the calcium channel blocker D-600 (gallopamil), which penetrates into muscle cells (20), facilitates excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle (7) by a direct effect on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The effects of D-600 were studied on single phasic muscle fibers, either intact or split open. D-600 potentiated twitches in intact fibers at concentrations lower than those reported in whole muscles. In split fibers, the force produced by caffeine-induced Ca2+ release from the SR was reversibly inhibited by 5 microM D-600, when added to the Ca2+ loading solution. This inhibitory effect was inversely related to temperature, and it was dose dependent. When D-600 was added after Ca2+ loading and before caffeine exposure, or during the caffeine exposure itself, it did not inhibit Ca2+ release, but rather increased the development of force. We conclude that, apart from the blocking effect that D-600 may have on the voltage sensor, the drug penetrates into the myoplasm and affects excitation-contraction coupling by inhibiting the SR Ca2+ pump. This may be the consequence of a conformational change in the transmembrane Ca2+ binding domain of the ATPase.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Ortega, V. M. Becker, R. Alvarez, J. R. Lepock, and H. Gonzalez-Serratos Interaction of D-600 with the transmembrane domain of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, July 1, 2000; 279(1): C166 - C172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]