title: Ca2+ movements in sarcoplasmic reticulum of rat soleus fibers after hindlimb suspension.
abstract: The functional capacity of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was examined in the slow soleus of rats submitted to 15 days of disuse produced by hindlimb suspension (HS). By using caffeine-induced contractions of single skinned fibers, Ca2+ uptake, Ca2+ release, and passive Ca2+ leakage through the SR membrane were investigated. In the SR of atrophied muscles, the amounts of Ca2+ uptake and Ca2+ release were significantly higher than in the control muscles and were close to those found for a fast muscle, the plantaris. Moreover, the study of the Ca2+ leakage showed that the time required to empty the SR previously loaded with Ca2+ was reduced by a factor of two after HS. Such disturbances of the Ca2+ movements in the SR suggested that alterations of the SR membrane occurred after HS. The results supported the idea that after hindlimb unweighting the slow soleus muscle acquired SR properties that were very much like those of a faster muscle.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiologie des Structures Contractiles, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mounier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active / Q000187:drug effects; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D006614:Hindlimb; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014893:Weightlessness / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D002110:Caffeine; D002118:Calcium