| Abstract: | The treatment of the bundles of rat myocardial fibers with ethyleneglycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N-tetraacetate (EGTA) made the sarcolemma permeable for ions and small molecules. At the incubation medium pH 7.0 the EGTA-treated fibers developed a half-maximal tension at pCa 5.4, and the maximal tension at pCa 4.8. Inorganic phosphate (10 mM) reduced the maximal tension by 18 +/- 3% and decreased the calcium sensitivity of the myofibrils so that there was a shift of the pCa/tension curve by 0.3 unit to the right. Acidosis (pH 6.6) also decreased significantly the calcium sensitivity, while the presence of 10 mM phosphate produced additional depression of the calcium sensitivity. It is concluded that phosphate accumulation by the ischemic myocardium combined with acidosis may depress the contractility not only due to depletion of the free calcium concentration in the myoplasm but also as a result of the reduced calcium sensitivity of myofibrils. |
