title: Functional effects of uridine triphosphate on human skinned skeletal muscle fibers.
abstract: Chemically skinned human skeletal muscle fibers were used to study the effects of uridine triphosphate (UTP) on the tension-pCa relationship and on Ca2+ uptake and release by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Total replacement (2.5 mM) of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) with UTP (i) displaced the tension-pCa relationship to the left along the abcissae and increased maximum Ca(2+)-activated tension, both effects being larger in slow- than in fast-type fibers; (ii) markedly reduced Ca2+ uptake by the SR (evaluated by the caffeine-evoked tension) in both fiber types; (iii) had no effect on the rate of depletion of caffeine-sensitive Ca2+ stores during soaking in relaxing solutions; (iv) induced tension in slow- but not in fast-type fibers. The effects on the SR functional properties are consistent with the notion that UTP is a poor substitute for ATP as a substrate for the Ca ATPase pump and as an agonist of the ryanodine-sensitive Ca(2+)-release channel. The UTP-induced tension in human slow-type fibers is attributed to effect(s) of the nucleotide on the tension-pCa relationship of the contractile machinery. The present data reveal important differences between the effects of UTP on human versus rat muscle fibers.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vianna-Jorge
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mounier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suarez-Kurtz
mesh_terms: D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006801:Humans; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014544:Uridine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; D002110:Caffeine; D002118:Calcium; D014544:Uridine Triphosphate