A minimal gating model for the cardiac calcium release channel.
A Markovian model of the cardiac Ca release channel, based on experimental single-channel gating data, was constructed to understand the transient nature of Ca release. The rate constants for a minimal gating scheme with one Ca-free resting state, and with two open and three closed states with one bound Ca2+, were optimized to simulate the following experimental findings. In steady state the channel displays three modes of activity: inactivated 1 mode without openings, low-activity L mode with single openings, and high-activity H mode with bursts of openings. At the onset of a Ca2+ step, the channel first activates in H mode and then slowly relaxes to a mixture of all three modes, the distribution of which depends on the new Ca2+. The corresponding ensemble current shows rapid activation, which is followed by a slow partial inactivation. The transient reactivation of the channel (increment detection) in response to successive additions of Ca2+ is then explained by the model as a gradual recruitment of channels from the extant pool of channels in the resting state. For channels in a living cell, the model predicts a high level of peak activation, a high extent of inactivation, and rapid deactivation, which could underlie the observed characteristics of the elementary release events (calcium sparks).
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Institute of Molecular Physiology and Genetics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
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D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D007700:Kinetics; D008390:Markov Chains; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011336:Probability; D013997:Time Factors
D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium