Calcium transients in single fibers of low-frequency stimulated fast-twitch muscle of rat.

Ca(2+) transients were investigated in single fibers isolated from rat extensor digitorum longus muscles exposed to chronic low-frequency stimulation for different time periods up to 10 days. Approximately 2.5-fold increases in resting Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]) were observed 2 h after stimulation onset and persisted throughout the stimulation period. The elevated [Ca(2+)] levels were in the range characteristic of slow-twitch fibers from soleus muscle. In addition, we noticed a transitory elevation of the integral [Ca(2+)] per pulse with a maximum ( approximately 5-fold) after 1 day. Steep decreases in rate constant of [Ca(2+)] decay could be explained by an immediate impairment of Ca(2+) uptake and, with longer stimulation periods, by an additional loss of cytosolic Ca(2+) binding capacity resulting from a decay in parvalbumin content. A partial recovery of the rate constant of [Ca(2+)] decay in 10-day stimulated muscle could be explained by an increasing mitochondrial contribution to Ca(2+) sequestration.