Cytosolic calcium concentration in resting cardiac myocytes locally fluctuates as a result of spontaneous microscopic Ca2+ releases or abruptly rises as a result of an external trigger. These processes, observed as calcium sparks, are fundamental for proper function of cardiac muscle. In this study, we analyze how the characteristics of spontaneous and triggered calcium sparks are related to cardiac ryanodine receptor (RYR) gating. We show that the frequency of spontaneous sparks and the probability distribution of calcium release flux quanta of triggered sparks correspond quantitatively to predictions of an allosteric homotetrameric model of RYR gating. This model includes competitive binding of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions to the RYR activation sites and allosteric interaction between divalent ion binding and channel opening. It turns out that at rest, RYRs are almost fully occupied by Mg2+. Therefore, spontaneous sparks are most frequently evoked by random openings of the highly populated but rarely opening Mg4RYR and CaMg3RYR forms, whereas triggered sparks are most frequently evoked by random openings of the less populated but much more readily opening Ca2Mg2RYR and Ca3MgRYR forms. In both the spontaneous and the triggered sparks, only a small fraction of RYRs in the calcium release unit manages to open during the spark because of the limited rate of Mg2+ unbinding. This mechanism clarifies the unexpectedly low calcium release flux during elementary release events and unifies the theory of calcium signaling in resting and contracting cardiac myocytes.

The dyads of cardiac myocytes contain ryanodine receptors (RYRs) that generate calcium sparks upon activation. To test how geometric factors of RYR distribution contribute to the formation of calcium sparks, which cannot be addressed experimentally, we performed in silico simulations on a large set of models of calcium release sites (CRSs). Our models covered the observed range of RYR number, density, and spatial arrangement. The calcium release function of CRSs was modeled by RYR openings, with an open probability dependent on concentrations of free Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions, in a rapidly buffered system, with a constant open RYR calcium current. We found that simulations of spontaneous sparks by repeatedly opening one of the RYRs in a CRS produced three different types of calcium release events (CREs) in any of the models. Transformation of simulated CREs into fluorescence signals yielded calcium sparks with characteristics close to the observed ones. CRE occurrence varied broadly with the spatial distribution of RYRs in the CRS but did not consistently correlate with RYR number, surface density, or calcium current. However, it correlated with RYR coupling strength, defined as the weighted product of RYR vicinity and calcium current, so that CRE characteristics of all models followed the same state-response function. This finding revealed the synergy between structure and function of CRSs in shaping dyad function. Lastly, rearrangements of RYRs simulating hypothetical experiments on splitting and compaction of a dyad revealed an increased propensity to generate spontaneous sparks and an overall increase in calcium release in smaller and more compact dyads, thus underlying the importance and physiological role of RYR arrangement in cardiac myocytes.

Cardiac excitation-contraction coupling relies on dyads, the intracellular calcium synapses of cardiac myocytes, where the plasma membrane contacts sarcoplasmic reticulum and where electrical excitation triggers calcium release. The morphology of dyads and dynamics of local calcium release vary substantially. To better understand the correspondence between the structure and the functionality of dyads, we estimated incidences of structurally different dyads and of kinetically different calcium release sites and tested their responsiveness to experimental myocardial injury in left ventricular myocytes of rats. According to the structure of dyads estimated in random electron microscopic images of myocardial tissue, the dyads were sorted into ‘compact’ or ‘loose’ types. The calcium release fluxes, triggered at local calcium release sites in patch-clamped ventricular myocytes and recorded by laser scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy, were decomposed into ‘early’ and ‘late’ components. ANOVA tests revealed very high correlation between the relative amplitudes of early and late calcium release flux components and the relative occurrences of compact and loose dyads in the control and in the injured myocardium. This finding ascertained the relationship between the structure of dyads and the functionality of calcium release sites and the responsiveness of calcium release sites to physical load in cardiac myocytes.

Intracellular calcium signals are studied by laser-scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy. The required spatio-temporal resolution makes description of calcium signals difficult because of the low signal-to-noise ratio. We designed a new procedure of calcium spike analysis based on their fitting with a model. The accuracy and precision of calcium spike description were tested on synthetic datasets generated either with randomly varied spike parameters and Gaussian noise of constant amplitude, or with constant spike parameters and Gaussian noise of various amplitudes. Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the performance of spike fitting algorithms. The procedure was optimized for reliable estimation of calcium spike parameters and for dismissal of false events. A new algorithm was introduced that corrects the acquisition time of pixels in line-scan images that is in error due to sequential acquisition of individual pixels along the space coordinate. New software was developed in Matlab and provided for general use. It allows interactive dissection of temporal profiles of calcium spikes from x-t images, their fitting with predefined function(s) and acceptance of results on statistical grounds, thus allowing efficient analysis and reliable description of calcium signaling in cardiac myocytes down to the in situ function of ryanodine receptors.

New derivatives of arylpiperazine 9 were designed from ML 10302, a potent 5-HT₄ receptor agonist in the gastrointestinal system. Compounds were synthesized by condensation of a number of available arylpiperazines or heteroarylpiperazines with 2-bromoethyl 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxybenzoate. They were evaluated in binding assays on the recently cloned human 5-HT_4(e) isoform stably expressed in C6 glial cells with [³H]GR 113808 as the radioligand. The affinity values (K_i) depended upon the substituent on the aromatic ring. A chlorine atom produced a marked drop in activity (K_i > 100 nM), while a m-methoxy group gave a compound with nanomolar affinity (K_i = 3 nM). The most potent compounds were the heterocyclic derivatives with pyrimidine, pyrazine, pyridazine, or pyridine moieties (compounds 9r, 9t, 9u, 9x, respectively). K_i values for 9a and 9r were determined for the 5-HT_4(a), 5-HT_4(b), 5-HT_4(c), and 5-HT_4(d) receptor isoforms transiently expressed in COS cells. The results indicated that the compounds were not selective. They produced an inhibition of the 5-HT-stimulated cyclic AMP synthesis in the C6 glial cells stably expressing the 5-HT_4(e) receptor and shifted the 5-HT concentration−effect curve on adenylyl cyclase activity with pK_D values of 7.44 and 8.47, respectively. In isolated human atrial myocytes, 9r antagonized the stimulatory effect of 5-HT on the L-type calcium current (I_Ca) with a K_D value of 0.7 nM.