title: Contractile and Ca2+-handling properties of the right ventricular papillary muscle in the late-gestation sheep fetus.
abstract: The force-generating capacity of cardiomyocytes rapidly changes during gestation and early postnatal life coinciding with a transition in cardiomyocyte nucleation in both mice and rats. Changes in nucleation, in turn, appear to coincide with important changes in the excitation-contraction coupling architecture. However, it is not clear whether similar changes are observed in other mammals in which this transition occurs prenatally, such as sheep. Using small (70-300 microM diameter) chemically skinned cardiomyocyte bundles from the right ventricular papillary muscle of sheep fetuses at 126-132 and 137-140 days (d) gestational age (GA), we aimed to examine whether changes in cardiomyocyte nucleation during late gestation coincided with developmental changes in excitation-contraction coupling parameters (e.g., Ca(2+) uptake, Ca(2+) release, and force development). All experiments were conducted at room temperature (23 +/- 1 degrees C). We found that the proportion of mononucleate cardiomyocytes decreased significantly with GA (126-132 d, 45.7 +/- 4.7%, n = 7; 137-140 d, 32.8 +/- 1.6%, n = 6; P < 0.05). When we then examined force development between the two groups, there was no significant difference in either the maximal Ca(2+)-activated force (6.73 +/- 1.54 mN/mm(2), n = 14 vs. 6.55 +/- 1.25 mN/mm(2), n = 7, respectively) or the Ca(2+) sensitivity of the contractile apparatus (pCa at 50% maximum Ca(2+)-activated force: 126-132 d, 6.17 +/- 0.06, n = 14; 137-140 d, 6.24 +/- 0.08, n = 7). However, sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+) uptake rates (but not Ca(2+) release) increased with GA (P < 0.05). These data reveal that during late gestation in sheep when there is a major transition in cardiomyocyte nucleation, SR Ca(2+) uptake rates increase, which would influence total SR Ca(2+) content and force production.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiology, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 5005.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Botting
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Posterino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005865:Gestational Age; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000196:embryology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology*; D010210:Papillary Muscles / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D012756:Sheep / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D016276:Ventricular Function
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium