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Relationship of Ca 2+ sparks to STOCs studied with 2D and 3D imaging in feline oesophageal smooth muscle cells
Author(s) -
Kirber Michael T.,
Etter Elaine F.,
Bellvé Karl A.,
Lifshitz Lawrence M.,
Tuft Richard A.,
Fay Fredric S.,
Walsh John V.,
Fogarty Kevin E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.0315i.x
Subject(s) - smooth muscle , chemistry , biophysics , anatomy , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , medicine , biology
1 We recorded Ca 2+ sparks and spontaneous transient outward currents (STOCs) simultaneously in smooth muscle cells using whole‐cell patch recording and a unique, high‐speed widefield digital imaging system to monitor fluo‐3 fluorescence in both two and three dimensions (2D and 3D). 2 In 2D imaging, the correlation between the amplitude of a spark and its corresponding STOC was a weak one, and 27 % of the sparks failed to cause STOCs. The STOCless sparks were not significantly different in amplitude from those that caused STOCs. 3 Three‐dimensional imaging disclosed that STOCless sparks were located close to the cell surface, and on average their apparent distance from the cell surface was not significantly different from the sparks that cause STOCs. 4 Statistical evaluation of spark clusters disclosed that there were regions of the cell where the probability of spark occurrence was high and others where it was quite low.