Action of Al-ATP on the isolated working rat heart

ATP is an important extracellular messenger in the coronary vasculature of the heart. To be effective its extracellular concentration must be tightly controlled and this is achieved via ectonucleotidases located in the luminal surface of the coronary endothelium. Al-ATP is a potent inhibitor of the hydrolysis of ATP and we speculated that Al-ATP released by cells into the blood would disrupt the signalling function of extracellular ATP. We tested this hypothesis by perfusing isolated working Wistar rat hearts with buffers containing either ATP or Al-ATP. The functional parameters measured were, coronary flow, heart rate and pulsatile power. A number of control perfusions including adenosine, ATP-gamma-S and Al were used to identify those effects which might be specific to ATP and Al-ATP. Al-ATP did not appear to inhibit the function of the endothelial ectonucleotidases. Both ATP and Al-ATP produced a significant increase in coronary flow and this could be attributed to a coronary vasodilation. Interestingly, whilst the effect of ATP was reversible that of Al-ATP was not. ATP caused a reduction in heart rate which was potentiated by aluminium. The negatively chronotropic effect of Al-ATP was mediated via a mechanism which was either distinct from or in addition to the similar response known to be caused by adenosine. We have demonstrated for the first time an influence of Al-ATP on heart function. Perhaps more pertinently we present the first evidence that Al-ATP may influence the function of ATP-specific receptors.