Abstract
Microelectrodes filled with neutral carrier selective to Ca2+ were used to measure the free intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in sheep cardiac tissue and frog skeletal muscle. Calibration of the electrodes was performed in the presence of a solution resembling the cationic composition of the cytoplasm. [Ca2+]i at rest in normal physiological saline (20–22° C) was 240 nM in Purkinje fibres, 270 nM in ventricular muscle, and 52 nM in skeletal muscle. In Purkinje fibres, elevation of [Ca2+]o from 1.8 mM to 5.4 mM produced a 1.7-fold increase in [Ca2+]i. Elevation of [Ca2+]o from 1.8 mM to 18 mM induced a 2.6-fold increase in [Ca2+]i. Exposure to Na+-free solution (Li+-substituted) gave rise to elevation of [Ca2+]i by factors of 5.8 and 14 in ventricular muscle and Purkinje fibres, respectively. These latter changes in [Ca2+]i were associated with the development of contractures which reached 34% and 172% of the corresponding twitch tension.
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Weingart, R., Hess, P. Free calcium in sheep cardiac tissue and frog skeletal muscle measured with Ca2+-selective microelectrodes. Pflugers Arch. 402, 1–9 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00584824
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00584824