Hysteresis and the length dependence of calcium sensitivity in chemically skinned rat cardiac muscle.

1. The relationship between pCa (-log10[Ca2+]) and steady-state isometric tension has been investigated in saponin- or Triton-treated (chemically 'skinned') cardiac muscle of rat. 2. Hysteresis exists in the relationship such that the muscle is less sensitive to Ca2+ during increasing activation (as [Ca2+] is stepped upward) than during reducing activation (as [Ca2+] is stepped downward). 3. The extent of the hysteresis is insensitive to interventions that increase overall calcium sensitivity by chemical means, such as caffeine, carnosine or increased pH. 4. The extent of the hysteresis is sensitive to sarcomere length. The phenomenon is virtually absent above sarcomere lengths of about 2.2-2.3 microns but becomes progressively greater at shorter sarcomere lengths. 5. The effect of sarcomere length on calcium sensitivity is restricted to the upward-going (increasing activation) part of the pCa-tension loop below 2.2 microns. The downward-going (decreasing activation) part of the hysteretic relationship is virtually unaffected by sarcomere length up to 2.2 microns. 6. Significant alterations in sarcomere length do not occur during tension development in the experiments described here: the phenomenon is not attributable to experimental artifacts of this kind. 7. Hysteresis develops sufficiently rapidly to be consistent with a physiological relevance during the normal heart beat. 8. The effects of sarcomere length show that the phenomenon is not due to force per se since, for example, greater peak force produces less hysteresis as sarcomere length is increased towards 2.2 microns. 9. Tonicity increase (by high-molecular-weight dextran), which shrinks the myofilament lattice, increases calcium sensitivity but reduces the effect of sarcomere length on calcium sensitivity. 10. The results suggest that lattice shrinkage is the mechanism which accounts for hysteresis in, and the sarcomere length dependence of, calcium sensitivity in cardiac muscle.