title: Effects of magnesium on inactivation of the voltage-gated calcium current in cardiac myocytes.
abstract: The effects of changes in intracellular and extracellular free ionized [Mg2+] on inactivation of ICa and IBa in isolated ventricular myocytes of the frog were investigated using the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Intracellular [Mg2+] was varied by internal perfusion with solutions having different calculated free [Mg2+]. Increasing [Mg2+]i from 0.3 mM to 3.0 mM caused a 16% reduction in peak ICa amplitude and a 36% reduction in peak IBa amplitude, shifted the current-voltage relationship and the inactivation curve approximately 10 mV to the left, decreased relief from inactivation, and caused a dramatic increase in the rate of inactivation of IBa. The shifts in the current-voltage and inactivation curves were attributed to screening of internal surface charge by Mg2+. The increased rate of inactivation of IBa was due to an increase in both the steady-state level of inactivation as well as an increase in the rate of inactivation, as measured by two-pulse inactivation protocols. Increasing external [Mg2+] decreased IBa amplitude and shifted the current-voltage and inactivation curves to the right, but, in contrast to the effect of internal Mg2+, had little effect on the inactivation kinetics or the steady-state inactivation of IBa at potentials positive to 0 mV. These observations suggest that the Ca channel can be blocked quite rapidly by external Mg2+, whereas the block by [Mg2+]i is time and voltage dependent. We propose that inactivation of Ca channels can occur by both calcium-dependent and purely voltage-dependent mechanisms, and that a component of voltage-dependent inactivation can be modulated by changes in cytoplasmic Mg2+.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hartzell
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura; D001464:Barium / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009543:Nifedipine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D001464:Barium; D008274:Magnesium; D009543:Nifedipine; D002118:Calcium