Abstract
The dissociation of adult rat heart into individual, functionally intact, calcium-tolerant myocytes requires precise manipulation of extracellular calcium levels. Dissociation of intercellular connections is achieved by lowering extracellular calcium to micromolar levels for a short period. By imposing a very small increment in free calcium activity (from 14 to 17 μM) during this period, we achieve a significant yield of functionally intact pairs of myocytes still joined at the intercalated disc. We obtain fewer intact cells, but many of these are paired end to end. These findings permit us to describe some structural characteristics of intercellular connections between cardiac cells and to report unambiguous measurements of electrotonic coupling and dye transfer between rat cardiac cell pairs. We find that the strength of electrical coupling between cells isolated as pairs with intact junctional contacts is much greater than that measured between cell pairs that have formed new junctional contacts.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 143-150 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Circulation Research |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - 1986 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Cite this
Effect of calcium on the dissociation of the mature rat heart into individual and paired myocytes : Electrical properties of cell pairs. / Wittenberg, B. A.; White, R. L.; Ginzberg, R. D.; Spray, David C.
In: Circulation Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, 1986, p. 143-150.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of calcium on the dissociation of the mature rat heart into individual and paired myocytes
T2 - Electrical properties of cell pairs
AU - Wittenberg, B. A.
AU - White, R. L.
AU - Ginzberg, R. D.
AU - Spray, David C.
PY - 1986
Y1 - 1986
N2 - The dissociation of adult rat heart into individual, functionally intact, calcium-tolerant myocytes requires precise manipulation of extracellular calcium levels. Dissociation of intercellular connections is achieved by lowering extracellular calcium to micromolar levels for a short period. By imposing a very small increment in free calcium activity (from 14 to 17 μM) during this period, we achieve a significant yield of functionally intact pairs of myocytes still joined at the intercalated disc. We obtain fewer intact cells, but many of these are paired end to end. These findings permit us to describe some structural characteristics of intercellular connections between cardiac cells and to report unambiguous measurements of electrotonic coupling and dye transfer between rat cardiac cell pairs. We find that the strength of electrical coupling between cells isolated as pairs with intact junctional contacts is much greater than that measured between cell pairs that have formed new junctional contacts.
AB - The dissociation of adult rat heart into individual, functionally intact, calcium-tolerant myocytes requires precise manipulation of extracellular calcium levels. Dissociation of intercellular connections is achieved by lowering extracellular calcium to micromolar levels for a short period. By imposing a very small increment in free calcium activity (from 14 to 17 μM) during this period, we achieve a significant yield of functionally intact pairs of myocytes still joined at the intercalated disc. We obtain fewer intact cells, but many of these are paired end to end. These findings permit us to describe some structural characteristics of intercellular connections between cardiac cells and to report unambiguous measurements of electrotonic coupling and dye transfer between rat cardiac cell pairs. We find that the strength of electrical coupling between cells isolated as pairs with intact junctional contacts is much greater than that measured between cell pairs that have formed new junctional contacts.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0022549391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
VL - 59
SP - 143
EP - 150
JO - Circulation Research
JF - Circulation Research
SN - 0009-7330
IS - 2
ER -