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T Oba

Publications and source records attributed to T Oba.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Inhibition of Zn2+-induced potentiation of twitch tension by Ni2+ in frog muscle.

Effect of Ni2+ on Zn2+-induced potentiation of twitch tension was studied electrophysiologically in the toe muscle fibers of Rana catesbeiana. The major findings of this investigation are as follows. When 2 mM Ni2+ was applied to fibers in a normal Ringer's solution containing 50 microM Zn2+ (Zn2+ solution), the Zn2+-potentiated twitch tension decreased remarkably to about one-third of that before Ni2+ treatment. This concentration of Ni2+ caused a 23% decrease in the duration of action potential which had been prolonged by Zn2+ (6.61-5.09 ms). Ni2+ (2 mM) added to normal Ringer's solution led to increases of about 30 and 42% in twitch tension and in the duration of action potential, respectively. A slight increase in the mechanical threshold was induced by 2 mM Ni2+. The inhibitory action of Ni2+ on the twitch tension in Zn2+ solution was larger than that in the case of tetanus tension. Diltiazem (40 microM), a Ca2+ channel blocker, did not inhibit the twitch tension potentiated in Zn2+ solution. These results suggest that the decrease in Zn2+-potentiated twitch tension by Ni2+ may possibly derive from impairment of the propagation of action potential along the T tubules.

Action Potentials↗

Chemical modification of calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of mechanically skinned skeletal bullfrog muscle fibers.

Several types of reagents that react with amino acid side chains induced repetitive phasic contracture of skinned skeletal muscle from frogs. The presence of 10 mM procaine or 5 mM magnesium in the medium or disruption of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) eliminated this contracture, indicating that the calcium-induced calcium-release mechanism of SR is involved in the contraction. Dithiothreitol inhibited the contracture induced by chloramine T, N-acetylimidazole, or p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid (pCMPS) but not in the case of carbodiimide, phenylglyoxal, trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid, diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP), or N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS). Therefore, modification of groups other than the sulfhydryl ones seems to induce contractures under such conditions. The amplitude of the caffeine-induced contracture decreased after treatment with pCMPS, DEP, or NCS. NCS shifted the pCa-tension curve toward low pCa in the SR-disrupted fibers. This shift would explain the decrease in the caffeine contracture. It is tentatively concluded that pCMPS and DEP release a large amount of calcium from SR.

Animals↗

Silver ion-induced tension development and membrane depolarization in frog skeletal muscle fibres.

Silver ions elicit dose-dependently a transient contracture in single fibres of bull-frog toe muscle placed in 0-Ca2+, Cl- -free MOPS solution containing 3 mM Mg2+ and NO3-. To elucidate the mechanisms involved, changes in membrane potential and in tension development were continuously measured following exposure to Ag+. The effect of Ag+ on contraction in fibres in which the membrane had been depolarized by elevating the external K+ concentration was also examined. The major findings of this investigation are as follows. (1) The mechanical threshold was shifted towards more negative potentials by 5 mV (-51 to -56 mV), when Ca2+ and Cl- in the Ringer's solution were replaced with Mg2+ and NO3-, respectively. (2) On the exposure of the fibres to 5 microM Ag+, the membrane potential decreased by 1.6 mV from -87.8 mV and tension was developed. (3) In fibres soaked in a solution containing 10 mM K+ (corresponding to a membrane potential of -69.5 mV), 5 microM Ag+ produced a large contracture similar to that seen in the control solution. (4) The Ag+-induced contracture was inactivated when more than 20 mM K+ was used. (5) The membrane depolarization evoked by either 20 or 50 microM Hg2+ did not produce contraction. (6) Muscle fibres which had been exposed to 20 microM Hg2+ for 5 min responded to 5 microM Ag+ by a transient tension development. These findings strongly suggest that Ag+-induced tension development is not associated with depolarization of the surface membrane but rather is caused by specific actions of Ag+ on membrane proteins in the T-tubules.

Animals↗

Hg2+-induced contracture in mechanically skinned fibers of frog skeletal muscle.

In mechanically skinned fibers of the semitendinosus muscle of bullfrogs, we examined the role of membrane sulfhydryl groups on Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Hg2+, a sulfhydryl reagent (20-100 microM), induced a repetitive contracture of skinned fibers, and this contracture did not occur in skinned fibers in which the SR had been disrupted by treatment with a detergent (Brij 58). Procaine (10 mM), Mg2+ (5 mM), or dithiothreitol (1 mM) blocked the Hg2+-induced contracture. Ag+ or p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonic acid produced similar contractures to that induced by Hg2+. We conclude that Hg2+ releases Ca2+ from SR of a skinned fiber by modifying sulfhydryl groups on the SR membrane, and suggest that the Ca2+ released by Hg2+ may trigger a greater release of Ca2+ from SR to develop tension.

Animals↗

Transient intracellular calcium movement coupled with mechanical activity of smooth muscle.

Change of intracellular free Ca in smooth muscle was monitored using Quin 2, Ca sensitive fluorescence dye. Upon electrical stimulus, increase of light emission from the sample occurred in two phases. Procaine and caffeine inhibited and facilitated, respectively, the 2nd phase of intensity change, which coincided with the mechanical response. It is concluded that the released Ca from intracellular store sites may play a key role for the mechanical activation of smooth muscles.

Aminoquinolines↗

Tension development in frog skeletal muscle induced by silver ions.

In single fibers of frog toe muscles placed in a Cl- free MOPS solution containing 1.8 mM Ca2+, tension developed slowly in the presence of very low concentrations of Ag+. This tension was not blocked by the administration of Co2+ or Ni2+. On the other hand, two types of transient tensions developed with the application of 5 microM Ag+, in fibers pretreated with 0-Ca2+ MOPS solution, containing either 2 mM Co2+ or 1mM Ni2+, for 10 min. In the presence of divalent cations or TTX, the first repetitive twitch-like contraction disappeared, indicating this tension is induced by action potentials repeatedly generated by the lack of divalent cations. The 2nd subsequent transient tension was caused by 5 microM Ag+ in the presence of various kinds of divalent cations, or TTX. After reversion to the resting tension, the fiber was contracted by adding more than 0.1 mM of Ca2+ or 25 mM caffeine to the external medium. Even when placed in a Ca2+-free solution containing 3 mM EGTA and 3 mM Mg2+ for 30 min, the fiber still developed an appreciable tension in response to 5 microM Ag+. These findings suggest that a transient development of the Ag+-induced tension does not require the presence of external Ca2+. A specific sulfhydryl reagent, pCMPS, did not contract the muscle fiber. Therefore, Ag+ may develop tension by mediating unknown chemical reaction(s) other than the sulfhydryl group on T-tubular membrane proteins.

4-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate↗

Migration of acetylated hemicellulose from capillary hemodialyzer to blood, causing scleritis and/or iritis.

From November 1981 to early March 1982, an outbreak of scleritis and/or iritis occurred among patients treated with a Nipro brand NAC series cellulose acetate capillary dialyzer. The rate of incidence with dialyzers produced in 1982 was significantly higher than that with dialyzers produced in 1981. An extract obtained from the dialyzers caused iritis in rabbits after its infusion into an auricula vein. Glycerol, acetylated carbohydrate (AC) derivatives, urethane derivatives, and polypropyleneglycol were found in the extract. AC derivatives caused iritis in rabbits, whereas they caused hyperemia of the bulbar conjunctiva in dogs. The AC derivatives contained xylose and glucose units in a ratio of 1.6-2.3:1. The amounts of AC derivatives were significantly larger in the extracts from 1982 than from 1981 devices. Moreover, another brand, but the same type, of dialyzer, the Cordis Dow 4000, contained a slight amount of them. These facts show that AC derivatives derived from hemicellulose played a primary role in the outbreak.

Acetylation↗

Effect of temperature and Zn2+ on isometric contractile properties and electrical phenomena of frog (Rana) and Xenopus skeletal muscle fibers.

Effects of temperature and Zn2+ on the isometric contractile properties of toe muscle fibers of Rana catesbeiana and Xenopus laevis were studied. The maximum twitch tension almost doubled when the temperature was lowered from 20 to 4 degrees C in Rana muscles but not in Xenopus muscles, although the duration of action potential in Xenopus muscle was increased slightly more than that seen in the Rana species. The maximum rate of rise of tension was greater in Xenopus muscle than in the Rana muscle, at 20 degrees C. The prolongation of the time-to-peak tension following exposure to low temperature (4 degrees C) was more pronounced in Rana than in Xenopus muscles. These results suggest that the speed of release and reuptake of Ca2+ by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) differs in Rana and Xenopus muscles and that these factors may be related to differences in the SR and the T-tubular morphology. In Rana muscles, Zn2+ prolonged the falling phase of the action potential and potentiated the twitch tension. In Xenopus muscles, Zn2+ marginally prolonged the duration of action potential and the twitch tension was not markedly potentiated. These results indicate that Zn2+ potentiates the twitch by prolonging the action potential and that Rana muscles are more sensitive to the effects of Zn2+.

Action Potentials↗

The effect of changing free Ca2+ on light diffraction intensity and correlation with tension development in skinned fibers of frog skeletal muscle.

The relationship between the diffraction intensity change of the first order line and tension development was examined in mechanically skinned single fibers from the dorsal head of the semitendinosus of frogs. Passive stretch of the fibers resulted in an increase in intensity over the range of sarcomere lengths from 2.5 to 3.6 microns, indicating that the intensity is a function of sarcomere length. Activation of skinned fibers caused a decrease in the intensity, at all sarcomere lengths, where the thick and thin filaments overlapped. The magnitude of the intensity decrease and that of the tension development depended on the Ca2+ concentration in the medium. The drop of intensity-pCa and the tension-pCa curves showed a similarly steep S-shape within a range of 0.5pCa unit, although the intensity-pCa curve shifted to the left; the pCa for 50% decrease in light signal was 6.48 and that for 50% tension development was 6.40. Caffeine (25 mM) added to the medium produced a decrease in the intensity of skinned fibers with the simultaneous development of tension, thereby indicating that caffeine induces a release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and disorder in the filaments ensues. Changes in diffraction intensity with electrical stimulation to the intact single fiber were similar, although a more striking summation was observed in the optical response, as compared to the tension development. These results suggest that tension development upon stimulation can be monitored by assessing the magnitude of diffraction intensity decrease in the first order line, except for some shift in the short fiber.

Animals↗

Mechanical, electrical, and morphological characteristics of skeletal muscle fibers from Xenopus and other species of frogs.

Mechanical, electrical, and morphological properties of iliofibularis or semitendinosus of Xenopus laevis, Rana catesbeiana, and Rana nigromaculata were investigated in an attempt to find out the differences between them which will give the basic knowledge for the study of excitation-contraction coupling. With application of electrical stimulation, a single muscle fiber from Xenopus contracted at a faster rate of rise than did the other muscles tested. The maximum rate of rise (Tmax) of tension was in the order of Xenopus, R. catesbeiana, and R. nigromaculata. Ca2+ sensitivity and Tmax of mechanically skinned fibers of Xenopus resembled those of R. catesbeiana. Xenopus muscle had a small cross-sectional area of T-tubule compared with that in other species and the action potential exhibited a small positive-going hump. The volume density of the terminal cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) to the myofibril was the largest in the Xenopus muscle, with a statistically significant difference. Therefore, the Xenopus muscle appears to be good material for investigation of mechanisms related to Ca2+ release from SR, as elicited by the excitation of T-tubules.

Action Potentials↗