title: Imaging calcium sparks in cardiac myocytes.
abstract: Calcium ions play fundamental roles in many cellular processes in virtually all type of cells. The use of Ca(2+) sensitive fluorescent indicators has proven to be an indispensable tool for studying the spatio-temporal dynamics of intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)). With the aid of laser scanning confocal microscopy and new generation of Ca(2+) indicators, highly localized, short-lived Ca(2+) signals, namely Ca(2+) sparks, were revealed as elementary Ca(2+) release events during excitation-contraction coupling in cardiomyocytes. Since the discovery of Ca(2+) sparks in 1993, the demonstration of dynamic Ca(2+) micro-domains in living cardiomyocytes has revolutionized our understanding of Ca(2+)-mediated signal transduction in normal and diseased hearts. In this chapter, we have described a commonly used method for recording local and global Ca(2+) signals in cardiomyocytes using the fluorescent indicator fluo-4 acetoxymethyl (AM) and laser scanning confocal microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, ICB, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. guatimosim@icb.ufmg.br
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guatimosim
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guatimosim
authors.forename: Long-Sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014966:Xanthenes
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; C409648:Fluo 4; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014966:Xanthenes