CALCIUM INFLUX IN SKELETAL MUSCLE AT REST, DURING ACTIVITY, AND DURING POTASSIUM CONTRACTURE

TLDR

Calcium influx in the frog sartorius muscle was quantified by measuring Ca‑45 entry rates. Unstimulated sartorius muscle shows Ca‑45 influx comparable to squid axons but 30‑fold higher per impulse than nerve fibers; NO⁻ substitution boosts influx by ~60% during activity, while potassium contracture induces a transient surge that triples–quintuples Ca uptake when Ca precedes K⁺ but not when added together, supporting the brief contracture seen in fast twitch fibers.

Abstract

Calcium influx in the sartorius muscle of the frog (Rana pipiens) has been estimated from the rate of entry of Ca(45). In the unstimulated preparation it is about equal to what has been reported for squid giant axons, but that per impulse is at least 30 times greater than in nerve fibers. The enhanced twitch when NO(-) (2) replaces Cl(-) in Ringer's is associated with at least a 60 per cent increase in influx during activity, whereas this anion substitution does not affect the passive influx significantly. Calcium entry during potassium contracture is even more markedly augmented than during electrical stimulation, but only at the beginning of the contracture; thus, when a brief Ca(45) exposure precedes excess K(+) application, C(45) uptake is increased three- to fivefold over the controls not subjected to K(+), whereas when C(45) and K(+) are added together, no measurable increase in Ca(45) uptake occurs. These findings are in keeping with the brevity of potassium contracture in "fast (twitch)" fibers such as in sartorius muscle.