Functional heterogeneity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum within sarcomeres of skinned muscle fibers

Precipitation of Ca oxalate in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of chemically skinned rabbit psoas fibers caused an increase in light scattering which was proportional to the amount of Ca accumulated per unit fiber volume. The increase in scattering was used to measure net accumulation rates and steady-state Ca capacities of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in single fibers. The data obtained were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those reported for isolated vesicle preparations. Under conditions in which Ca was not depleted from the medium, Ca accumulation was linear with time over much of its course. Steady-state capacities were independent of the Ca concentration; uptake rates were half-maximal at 0.5 microM Ca++ and saturated above about 1.0 microM. Both rate and capacity varied with the oxalate concentration, being maximal at oxalate concentrations greater than or equal to mM and decreasing in proportion to one another at lower concentrations, with a threshold near 0.25 mM. At the lower loads, electron micrographs showed many sarcoplasmic reticulum elements empty of precipitate alongside others that were full, whereas virtually all were filled in maximally loaded fibers. These data indicate that the Ca oxalate capacity of each fiber varies with the number and volume of elements in which Ca oxalate crystals can form at a given oxalate concentration, and that individual regions of the sarcoplasmic reticulum within each sarcomere differ in their ability to support Ca oxalate precipitation. Our working hypothesis is that this range in ability to form Ca oxalate crystals involves differences in ability to accumulate and retain ionized Ca inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum.