calcein-am and tetramethylrhodamine

Mitochondrial free Ca2+ may regulate mitochondrial ATP production during cardiac exercise. Here, using laser scanning confocal microscopy of adult rabbit cardiac myocytes co-loaded with Fluo-3 to measure free Ca2+ and tetramethylrhodamine methylester to identify mitochondria, we measured cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ transients during the contractile cycle. In resting cells, cytosolic and mitochondrial Fluo-3 signals were similar. During electrical pacing, transients of Fluo-3 fluorescence occurred in both the cytosolic and mitochondrial compartments. Both the mitochondrial and the cytosolic transients were potentiated by isoproterenol. These experiments show directly that mitochondrial free Ca2+ rises and falls during excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac myocytes and that changes of mitochondrial Ca2+ are kinetically competent to regulate mitochondrial metabolism on a beat-to-beat basis.

Topics: Aniline Compounds; Animals; Calcium; Cells, Cultured; Cytosol; Electric Stimulation; Fluoresceins; Fluorescent Dyes; Microscopy, Confocal; Mitochondria, Heart; Myocardial Contraction; Myocardium; Rabbits; Rhodamines; Xanthenes