The effect of temperature on charge movement repriming in amphibian skeletal muscle fibers. Gonzalez, Adom, and Carlo Caputo. Laboratorio de Biofisica del Musculo, Centro de Biofisica y Bioquimica, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Ap 21827, Caracas 1020 A Venezuela
APStracts 2:0424C, 1995.
Cut twitch muscle fibers, mounted in a triple Vaseline-gap chamber, were used to study the effects of temperature on intramembranous charge movement, and in particular on the repriming of charge 1. Changing the holding potential from -90 mV to 0 mV, modified the voltage distribution of charge movement but not the maximum movable charge. Temperature changes between 16 and 5 oC did not modify the fiber linear capacitance, the maximum non-linear intramembranous charge, or the voltage distribution of charge 1 and charge 2. We used a pulse protocol designed to study the repriming time course of charge 1, with little contamination from charge 2. The time course of charge movement repriming at 15 oC is described by a double exponential with time constants of 4.2 s and 25 s. Repriming kinetics was found to be highly temperature dependent, with two rate limiting steps with Q10 of 1.7 and 7.1 above and below 11.5 degrees C respectively. This is characteristic of processes with high energy of activation, and could be associated with a conformational change of the voltage sensor or with the interaction between the voltage sensor and the calcium release channel.

Received 17 November 1994; accepted in final form 1 September
1995.
APS Manuscript Number C676-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 8 December 95