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Intracellular calcium of longitudinal muscles isolated from pregnant rat myometrium

1991; Academic Press; Volume: 15; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0309-1651(91)90064-p

1878-240X

Tsukamoto Tsukamoto, Kawarabayashi, KANEKO, Kumamoto, Sugimori,

Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects

Longitudinal muscle cells were successfully isolated from pregnant rat myometrium (21 days of gestation) with more than a 95% survival rate. The approximate size of relaxed cells was 232.2 +/- 74 microns in length and 16.2 +/- 7.0 microns in width. Using the fluorescent indicator Fura-2, the concentration of intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) in resting state cells was calculated to be 116 +/- 18.5 nM. The isolated cells responded well to K+, acetylcholine and oxytocin in terms of contraction as well as the increase in [Ca2+]i. The increase in [Ca2+]i induced by acetylcholine and K+ appeared to be mainly due to an influx of extracellular Ca2+. On the other hand, the oxytocin-induced increase in [Ca2+]i was mainly due to a release of Ca2+ from intracellular storage sites in the isolated cells. Isolated longitudinal muscle cells can serve as a useful tool in establishing the relationship between [Ca2+]i and regulation of the uterine contraction at the final stage of pregnancy.