Cardiac contractility of the African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus: role of extracellular Ca2+, sarcoplasmic reticulum, and β-adrenergic stimulation

Abstract

This study investigated the dependence of contraction from extracellular Ca²⁺, the presence of a functional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), and the effects of β-adrenergic stimulation using isometric cardiac muscle preparations. Moreover, the expression of Ca²⁺-handling proteins such as SR-Ca²⁺-ATPase (SERCA), phospholamban (PLN), and Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchanger (NCX) were also evaluated in the ventricular tissue of adult African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, a facultative air-breathing fish. In summary, we observed that (1) contractility was strongly regulated by extracellular Ca²⁺; (2) inhibition of SR Ca²⁺-release by application of ryanodine reduced steady-state force production; (3) ventricular myocardium exhibited clear post-rest decay, even in the presence of ryanodine, indicating a decrease in SR Ca²⁺ content and NCX as the main pathway for Ca²⁺ extrusion; (4) a positive force-frequency relationship was observed above 60 bpm (1.0 Hz); (5) ventricular tissue was responsive to β-adrenergic stimulation, which caused significant increases in twitch force, kept a linear force-frequency relationship from 12 to 96 bpm (0.2 to Hz), and improved the cardiac pumping capacity (CPC); and (6) African catfish myocardium exhibited similar expression patterns of NCX, SERCA, and PLN, corroborating our findings that both mechanisms for Ca²⁺ transport across the SR and sarcolemma contribute to Ca²⁺ activator. In conclusion, this fish species displays great physiological plasticity of E-C coupling, able to improve the ability to maintain cardiac performance under physiological conditions to ecological and/or adverse environmental conditions, such as hypoxic air-breathing activity.

Keywords: Cardiac function; Facultative air-breathing fish; Force-frequency relationship; NCX; PLN; SERCA.