H2O2 modulates twitch tension and increases Po of Ca2+ release channel in frog skeletal muscle.

The effect of H2O2 was examined to elucidate the basis of muscle injury after exercise. Exposure of single fibers to 1.5-6 mM H2O2 led to twitch potentiation followed by a marked decrease. Then, fibers contracted spontaneously. BAY K 8644 augmented twitch potentiation and slowed the decay of twitches. In 5 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), twitch potentiation and spontaneous contraction were not observed on H2O2 addition. Cytoplasmic application of 1.5-3 mM H2O2 to heavy sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles incorporated into planar lipid bilayers increased the open probability of Ca2+ release channels, an effect reversed by DTT. We investigated oxidation of sulfhydryl groups on proteins in SR membrane by H2O2 with N-(7-dimethylamino-4-methyl-3-coumarinyl)maleimide. Pretreatment of light and heavy SR membranes with 1.5 mM H2O2 exponentially increased fluorescence intensity. The time constant of the intensity increase was increased markedly only in heavy SR in solution containing 50 microM cytoplasmic Ca2+, so Ca2+ release was associated with protein oxidation by H2O2. Thus extracellular H2O2 probably acts by oxidizing sulfhydryls of proteins at two distinct sites: the dihydropyridine receptors, oxidation of which elicits potentiation and subsequent inhibition of twitches, and Ca2+ release channels, whose oxidation elicits spontaneous contraction, resulting in muscle dysfunction.