Subcellular distribution of sodium pump isoform subunits in mammalian cardiac myocytes. McDonough, Alicia A., Yibin Zhang, Victoria Shin, and Joy S. Frank. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Southern California School of Medicine, and Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine
APStracts 2:0377C, 1995.
The cardiac sodium pump (Na,K-ATPase) provides the driving force for the Na+-Ca++ exchanger, a determinant of intracellular Ca++ stores. Three sodium pump [alpha] catalytic subunit isoforms are expressed in human heart, [alpha]1 and [alpha]2 in rat heart and only [alpha]1 in guinea pig heart. The objective of this study was to determine whether there are isoform specific patterns of expression in the transverse tubules (T-tubules) versus the peripheral sarcolemma (SL). In adult rat cardiomyocytes anti-[alpha]1 specific antibodies labeled the T-tubules more intensely than the peripheral SL where labeling was patchy, the same pattern reported for distribution of the Na+ -Ca++ exchanger (Frank et al, J. Cell Biol.,1992), while anti [alpha]2 and anti [beta]1 antibodies uniformly labeled T-tubules and peripheral SL. In guinea pig cardiomyocytes an anti-[alpha] antibody against an extracellular epitope evenly labeled the peripheral SL, T -tubules, and immunogold labeling demonstrated coincidence of [alpha] subunits and intramembranous particles in sarcolemma. In summary, sodium pumps are located in both peripheral sarcolemma and transverse tubules of cardiomyocytes expressing either multiple or single sodium pump isoforms.

Received 8 August 1995; accepted in final form 6 October 1995.
APS Manuscript Number C491-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 6 November 95