Monitoring of ANP secretion from single atrial myocytes using densitometry.
Atrial myocytes secrete atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in response to mechanical stretch and can serve as a challenging model for studying stretch-secretion coupling. We have developed a technique for monitoring ANP secretion from single atrial myocytes, using neutral red and a CCD video camera. Atrial-specific granules (ASGs) containing ANP were stained with neutral red. The cells were illuminated with monochromatic light (550 mm) and the grey value monitored within the region of interest (ROI) surrounding the region in which ASGs were densely located. Assuming that neutral red is evenly distributed in ASGs, the change in optical density (OD) was considered to represent the total amount of secretion. Under control, non-stimulated conditions, the OD decreased spontaneously (19.7+/-1.4%/10 min, n=14). Direct mechanical stretch (cell length increased by 20%) with two micropipettes or hypotonic swelling (200 mOsm) accelerated the decrease in OD significantly (48.7+/-7.4%/10 min; n=3, 47.2+/-2.4%/10 min; n=7, respectively). In conclusion, this method allows monitoring of ANP secretion with a relatively high time resolution while mechanical stress is applied. Furthermore, patch-clamp or intracellular perfusion techniques can be combined with the present technique for studying cellular mechanisms of stretch-secretion coupling.
Department of Physiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yonkeun-Dong, Chongno Ku, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
Shin Young
SY
Ryu
Suk-Ho
SH
Lee
Gerrit
G
Isenberg
Won-Kyung
WK
Ho
Yung E
YE
Earm
D000818:Animals; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003720:Densitometry / Q000379:methods*; D005089:Exocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007038:Hypotonic Solutions; D008297:Male; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009499:Neutral Red; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D007038:Hypotonic Solutions; D009499:Neutral Red; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor