Because of undeveloped T tubules and sparse sarcoplasmic reticulum, Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release (CICR) may not be the major mechanism providing contractile Ca(2+) in the neonatal heart. Spatial association of dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs) and ryanodine receptors (RyRs), a key factor for CICR, was examined in isolated neonatal rabbit ventricular myocytes aged 3-20 days by double-labeling immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. We found a significant increase (P < 0.0005) in the degree of colocalization of DHPR and RyR during development. The number of voxels containing DHPR that also contained RyR in the 3-day-old group (62 +/- 1.8%) was significantly lower than in the other age groups (76 +/- 1.3 in 6-day old, 75 +/- 1.2 in 10-day old, and 79 +/- 0.9% in 20-day old). The number of voxels containing RyR that also contained DHPR was significantly higher in the 20-day-old group (17 +/- 0.5%) compared with the other age groups (10 +/- 0.7 in 3-day old, 11 +/- 0.6 in 6-day old, and 11 +/- 0.5% in 10-day old). During this period, the pattern of colocalization changed from mostly peripheral to mostly internal couplings. Our results provide a structural basis for the diminished prominence of CICR in neonatal heart.

Colocalization of dihydropyridine (DHPR) and ryanodine (RyR) receptors, a key determinant of Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release, was previously estimated in 3-, 6-, 10-, and 20-day-old rabbit ventricular myocytes by immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy. We now report on the effects of deconvolution (using a maximum-likelihood estimation algorithm) on the calculation of colocalization indexes. Clusters of DHPR and RyR can be accurately represented as point sources of fluorescence, which enables a model of their relative distributions to be constructed using images of point spread functions to simulate their fluorescence inside a cell. This model was used to investigate the effects of deconvolution on colocalization as a function of separation distance. Deconvolution resulted in significant improvements in both axial and transverse resolutions, producing significant increases in clarity. Comparisons of intensity profiles (full-width half-maximum) pre- and postdeconvolution showed decreased dispersion of the fluorescent signal and a corresponding decrease in false colocalization as determined by fluorescence modeling. This hypothesis was extended to physiological data previously collected. The number of colocalized voxels was quantified after deconvolution, and the degree of colocalization of DHPR with RyR decreased significantly after deconvolution in all age groups: 3 days (62 +/- 2% before deconvolution, 43 +/- 3 after deconvolution) to 20 days old (79 +/- 1% before deconvolution, 63 +/- 2% after deconvolution). The data demonstrate that confocal images should be deconvolved before any quantitative analysis, such as colocalization index determination, to minimize the detrimental effects of out-of-focus light in coincident voxels.

No abstract

No abstract