Ultrastructural localization of calsequestrin in adult rat atrial and ventricular muscle cells

Abstract

The distribution of calsequestrin in rat atrial and ventricular myocardial cells was determined by indirect immunocolloidal gold labeling of ultrathin frozen sections. The results presented show that calsequestrin is confined to the sarcoplasmic reticulum where it is localized in the lumen of the peripheral and the interior junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum as well as in the lumen of the corbular sarcoplasmic reticulum, but absent from the lumen of the network sarcoplasmic reticulum. Comparison of these results with our previous studies on the distribution of the Ca2+ + Mg2+-dependent ATPase of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum show directly that the Ca2+ + Mg2+-dependent ATPase and calsequestrin are confined to distinct regions within the continuous sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane. Assuming that calsequestrin provides the major site of Ca2+ sequestration in the lumen of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the results presented support the idea that both junctional (interior and peripheral) and specialized nonjunctional (corbular) regions of the sarcoplasmic reticulum are involved in Ca2+ storage and possibly release. Furthermore, the structural differences between the junctional and the corbular sarcoplasmic reticulum support the possibility that Ca2+ storage and/or release from the lumen of the junctional and the corbular sarcoplasmic reticulum are regulated by different physiological signals.