Developmental aspects of cardiac Ca(2+) signaling: interplay between RyR- and IP(3)R-gated Ca(2+) stores

The dominant mode of intracellular Ca(2+) release in adult mammalian heart is gated by ryanodine receptors (RyRs), but it is less clear whether inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3))-gated Ca(2+) release channels (IP(3)Rs), which are important during embryogenesis, play a significant role during early postnatal development. To address this question, we measured confocal two-dimensional Ca(2+) dependent fluorescence images in acutely isolated neonatal (days 1 to 2) and juvenile (days 8-10) rat cardiomyocytes, either voltage-clamped or permeabilized, where rapid exchange of solution could be used to selectively activate the two types of Ca(2+) release channel. Targeting RyRs with caffeine produced large and rapid Ca(2+) signals throughout the cells. Application of ATP and endothelin-1 to voltage-clamped, or IP(3) to permeabilized, cells produced smaller and slower Ca(2+) signals that were most prominent in subsarcolemmal regions and were suppressed by either the IP(3)R-blocker 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborate or replacement of the biologically active form of IP(3) with its L-stereoisomer. Such IP(3)R-gated Ca(2+) releases were amplified by Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release (CICR) via RyRs since they were also reduced by compounds that block the RyRs (tetracaine) or deplete the Ca(2+) pools they gate (caffeine, ryanodine). Spatial analysis revealed both subsarcolemmal and perinuclear origins for the IP(3)-mediated Ca(2+) release events RyR- and IP(3)R-gated Ca(2+) signals had larger magnitudes in juvenile than in neonatal cardiomyocytes. Ca(2+) signaling was generally quite similar in atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes but showed divergent development of IP(3)-mediated regulation in juveniles. Our data suggest that an intermediate stage of Ca(2+) signaling may be present in developing cardiomyocytes, where, in addition to RyR-gated Ca(2+) pools, IP(3)-gated Ca(2+) release is sufficiently large in magnitude and duration to trigger or contribute to activation of CICR and cardiac contraction.