Physiology Week 1 Flashcards
NCX
Na/Ca exchanger in plasma membrane. Move Ca uphill by exploiting the Na gradient. Can work in reverse.
PMCA
plasma membrane Ca ATPase. Not v. important to cardiac myocytes, but it is present. Moves ca out of cell
What does SERCA do?
transports calcium back to the sarcoplasmic reticulum. SR and outside cell have similar Ca levels.
How are calcium gradients maintained?
By SERCA and NCX
How do large amounts of ions move?
Through channels - much faster/greater volume than through pumps and transporters. Ex: L-type Ca channel, Na channel
What are some differences between cardiac and skeletal muscle?
Cardiac muscle requires extracellular calcium influx to contract, skeletal muscle does not (vast majority from SR).
Skeletal muscle requires activation by neurons at neuromuscular junctions, cardiac muscle does not.
Skeletal muscle contractions can sum to a larger contraction, cardiac cannot.
Both cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction are fast (versus slow smooth m., smooth muscle also not arranged in sarcomeres)
What is the A band?
middle, thick filaments, dArk
what is the I band?
area that does not contain thick filaments, lIght.
What is the Z line?
scaffolding proteins (alpha actinin) that anchor thin filaments. In middle of I band.
What are thick filaments made of?
myosin heavy and light chains
What are thin filaments made of?
actin, tropomyosin, troponin
How do cross bridges form in cardiac and skeletal muscle?
Calcium binds to troponin-C, causing tropomyosin on thin filaments to change conformation
so binding site is exposed and myosin can bind to actin.
How does skeletal muscle excitation occur?
Motor neurons release Ach at neuromuscular jxn. Ach binds to nicotinic cholinergic receptors in motor endplate. Na flux through the Ach receptors initiates skeletal muscle action potential.
Tetanus?
Chronically contracted muscle
What’s different about smooth muscle?
No troponin/tropomyosin. Actin and myosin interaction occurs when myosin light chain is phosphorylated. MLCK is activated by calcium binding, regulated by calmodulin. Contraction can occur with or without APs. Uses many diff sources of calcium
What stimulates contraction in smooth muscle?
alpha adrenergic stimulation - produces IP3 and Ca is released from SR.
What stimulates relaxation in smooth muscle?
beta adrenergic stimulation and nitric oxide. BAS activates adenylyl cyclase and cAMP inhibits MLCK. NO similar in that it activates guanylyl cyclase.
What is the order of conduction through the heart?
sinoatrial node - atrium - atrioventricular node - bundle of His/bunde branches - Purkinje fibers - ventricles
What’s an SA nodal cell like?
SA nodal cell IS a muscle cell, doesn’t really contract much though. NOT neurons within myocardium - they fire spontaneously. SA cells don’t need to pump blood, don’t need to be as big.
Note that it never goes back down to -85 like a ventricular cell, more like -60.
What are the ion movements in a ventricular AP?
0) Na influx (upstroke)
1) Na in vs. K out (notch)
2) Ca in and K out (plateau)
3) K out (repolarization)
4) K out and NCX in (resting membrane)
What are the ion movements during an SA nodal AP?
0) Ca influx (upstroke)
1) not listed
2) Ca in vs. K out (plateau)
3) K out (repolarization)
4) NCX in AND funny current If in (resting)
What’s a negative current?
positive charge flowing into the cell. A positive current would be positive charge flowing out of the cell.
What’s the deal with L-type calcium currents?
channels open at more positive voltages, opens and closes more slowly than sodium. Otherwise looks like sodium.
supply a significant amount of Ca for AP plateau/SR Ca release in ventricular myocytes
Are the AP upstroke in SA and AV nodal myocytes
Reversal potentials?
K= positive above -90 Na= negative below +70 Ca= negative below +130
Inward rectifying K current
open at resting potential, closes at positive potentials.. reason that cardiac myocytes are at -85mV resting potential
Delayed rectifying K current
closed at resting potential, opens with delay during plateau to repolarize membrane. There are actually 2 - one rapid and one slow (Ikr and Iks)
Funny current
closed at positive voltages, opens at negative voltages.
Funny current supplies depolarizing current to drive voltage up again.
This is opposite behavior from the Na current, Ca current, and delayed rectifier K channel, which all open at positive voltages.
Where is the funny current present?
In the SA node, but not the ventricle. Also called HCN in the heart (hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated)
Where is the inward K rectifier current present?
In ventricle but not SA node.
Where is the delayed K rectifier current?
in both SA node and ventricles
What happens when you block sodium channels?
Reduced upstroke velocity and slow conduction
What happens when you block delayed rectifier K channels?
Prolonged AP
What happens when you block Ca channels?
Slow HR and AV conduction, weaker contractions.
What happens to channels in heart failure? What happens to Ca?
downregulated K channels. Less inward rectifier and less slow delayed rectifier. SERCA is downregulated so less Ca is pumped into SR, less Ca is available to be released, smaller Ca transients. Leads to weaker contractions and slower relaxation. T-tubules also change, making is more difficult to trigger SR Ca release (poor EC coupling).
Beta1 receptors are also downregulated, beta2 have greater role
What do transverse tubules do?
allow calcium levels to rise uniformly throughout large ventricular myocyte cells
What does caffeine do to CICR (calcium induced calcium release)?
blocks SR release at Ryanodine receptors
EC coupling sequence of events?
- membrane depolarization
- Ca enters through L type Ca channels
- Ca binds to ryanodine receptors in SR membrane
- ryanodine receptors release 4x more Ca than entered the cell.
- overall increase in Ca initiates contraction
What’s different about RyRs in skeletal muscle?
L type Ca channels physically connect to RyRs. The nicotinic Ach receptor activates and AP, which activates the LTCCs
How does calcium leave the cell so relaxation can occur?
total amount let in by LTCC leaves by NCX. Total amount released through RyRs re-sequestered by SERCA.
How do you modulate the strength of a contraction?
primary mechanism is to alter amount of Ca stored in the SR
What happens when Ca within SR is extremely high?
unstable Ca release. clusters of RyRs randomly release small amts of Ca. Normally this is harmless, but when cellular Ca is too high, this can trigger additional release. High intracellular Ca can also increase NCX exchange, which leads to additional +1 charge increase in cell (3 Na for 1 Ca), which depolarizes membrane and can initiate inappropriate APs.
What does Digitalis do?
Given for HF. Inhibits Na/K pump - Na higher in cell, makes extrusion of Ca less efficient. Less Ca extruded means more pumped into SR. More SR Ca means more released –stronger contractions (positive inotropy). Dangerous due to inappropriate APs from high SR Ca.