title: Functional aspects of calcium transport in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles derived from frog skeletal muscle treated with saponin.
abstract: To study the physiological aspects of the excitation-contraction cycle, saponin (10-100 micrograms ml-1) was used as a skinning agent on muscle and sarcotubular vesicles derived from fast muscles (sartorius and tibialis anterior) of Rana esculenta. The vesicles showed similar Ca2+-ATPase activity and similar protein profiles carried out by SDS-PAGE. Calcium transport in untreated vesicles and those treated with different concentrations of saponin seemed to have the same quantitative and qualitative parameters if the saponin was used in a range between 10 and 50 micrograms ml-1. Our results confirm that saponin may be considered to be a valid skinning agent for the external membranes of fast skeletal muscles.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia Cellulare, Universita' degli Studi di Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fanó
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belia
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fulle
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angelella
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panara
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marsili
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pascolini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active / Q000187:drug effects; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000378:metabolism; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D011893:Rana esculenta; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012503:Saponins; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases; D002118:Calcium