Described here is a method to directly measure calcium sparks, the elementary units of Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum in intact skeletal muscle fibers. This method utilizes osmotic-stress-mediated triggering of Ca2+ release from ryanodine receptor in isolated muscle fibers. The dynamics and homeostatic capacity of intracellular Ca2+ signaling can be employed to assess muscle function in health and disease.
Maintaining homeostatic Ca2+ signaling is a fundamental physiological process in living cells. Ca2+ sparks are the elementary units of Ca2+ signaling in the striated muscle fibers that appear as highly localized Ca2+ release events mediated by ryanodine receptor (RyR) Ca2+ release channels on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane. Proper assessment of muscle Ca2+ sparks could provide information on the intracellular Ca2+ handling properties of healthy and diseased striated muscles. Although Ca2+ sparks events are commonly seen in resting cardiomyocytes, they are rarely observed in resting skeletal muscle fibers; thus there is a need for methods to generate and analyze sparks in skeletal muscle fibers.
Detailed here is an experimental protocol for measuring Ca2+ sparks in isolated flexor digitorm brevis (FDB) muscle fibers using fluorescent Ca2+ indictors and laser scanning confocal microscopy. In this approach, isolated FDB fibers are exposed to transient hypoosmotic stress followed by a return to isotonic physiological solution. Under these conditions, a robust Ca2+ sparks response is detected adjacent to the sarcolemmal membrane in young healthy FDB muscle fibers. Altered Ca2+ sparks response is detected in dystrophic or aged skeletal muscle fibers. This approach has recently demonstrated that membrane-delimited signaling involving cross-talk between inositol (1,4,5)-triphosphate receptor (IP3R) and RyR contributes to Ca2+ spark activation in skeletal muscle. In summary, our studies using osmotic stress induced Ca2+ sparks showed that this intracellular response reflects a muscle signaling mechanism in physiology and aging/disease states, including mouse models of muscle dystrophy (mdx mice) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS model).
Intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) is a versatile and important secondary messenger that regulates multiple cellular functions in excitable cells such as neurons, cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscles (for review see Stutzmann and Mattson1). Regulated Ca2+ mobilization and cross-talk between sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and T-tubule (TT) membranes are fundamental regulators of muscle physiology. Furthermore, changes in Ca2+ signaling had been shown to be an underlying mechanism of contractile dysfunction in various muscle diseases.
Ca2+ sparks are localized elementary Ca2+ release events originating from opening of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) channel on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane2. In cardiac muscle, sparks occur spontaneously through opening of the RyR2 channel by a Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) mechanism 3-5. In skeletal muscle, RyR1 is strictly controlled by the voltage sensor at the TT membrane6,7. Thus Ca2+ sparks are suppressed and rarely detected in resting conditions in intact skeletal muscle fibers. Until recently, the sarcolemmal membrane needed to be disrupted by various chemical or mechanical "skinning" methods to uncouple the suppression of the voltage sensor on RyR1 and allowed for Ca2+ spark events to be detected in skeletal muscle8,9. One method previously described required permeabilization of the membrane of muscle fibers by saponin detergent10.
In 2003, we discovered that either transient hypoosmotic stress or hyperosmotic stress could induce peripheral Ca2+ sparks adjacent to the sarcolemmal membrane in intact muscle fibers11. This method has since been modified to study the molecular mechanism and modulation of Ca2+ release and dynamics12-16. Here we outline the details of our experimental approach for induction, detection and analysis of Ca2+ sparks in intact skeletal muscle. We also present our custom-built spark analysis program that can be used to quantify the elemental properties of individual Ca2+ sparks in skeletal muscle, e.g. spark frequency and amplitude (Δ F/F0, which reflects the open probability of the RyR channels and the Ca2+ load inside the SR); time to peak (rise time) and duration (FDHM, full duration at half-maximal amplitude) of sparks, as well as the spatial distribution of Ca2+ sparks. In addition, we present evidence that links altered Ca2+ sparks to the various pathophysiological states in skeletal muscle, such as muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The advantage of this technique involves the ability to measure Ca2+ in relatively undamaged cells, instead of stripping the muscle fibers, allowing recording of Ca2+ sparks in conditions closer to physiologic. Additionally, our custom-designed program provides more accurate calculations of the properties of the spark in relation to muscle fibers.
1. Setting up Osmotic-stress Perfusion System
Figure 1 is a schematic protocol of calcium sparks assessment in intact skeletal muscle fibers.
2. Preparing Intact Single Flexor Digitorum Brevis (FDB) Muscle Fibers from Mouse
3. Fluo-4 AM Dye Loading and Ca2+ Imaging (Sparks Measurement)
4. Data Analysis
Earlier studies showed that transient hypoosmotic stress induced peripheral Ca2+ sparks adjacent to the sarcolemmal membrane in intact muscle fibers11. Figure 1 shows the images of intact single muscle fibers with smooth sarcolemmal membrane and characteristic clear striations. Figure 2 shows typical Ca2+ sparks (as xy images) were induced by transient (100 sec) treatment with a hypoosmotic solution that swells the FDB muscle fibers from young, healthy mice. As the muscle fiber shrinks back to the original volume, a robust Ca2+ spark response will be directly under the sarcolemma of the muscle fiber. These xy images are used to calculate spark frequencies and plot the decay profile for this response. Figure 3 shows typical line scans (xt) generated with this mode of spark analysis. The confocal scan line is located directly underneath of the sarcolemmal membrane (Figure 3A). The time series of spark events are captured and the specified ROIs (region of interest) could be identified with our custom-developed, semi-automatic "Spark Fit" program (Figure 3B). Figure 3C shows a typical Spark Fit analysis of amplitude and kinetics of given Ca2+ spark. The Ca2+ spark intensity is calculated as the amplitude change of Fluo-4 AM signals (Δ F/F0, where F is the peak Fluo-4 intensity and F0 is the resting Fluo-4 intensity before spark arising). The duration of the spark is represented by FDHM (full duration of half magnitude) and the rise time as well as the time to peak can also be calculated. A typical 3D (three-dimensional) representation can be made from specified ROIs to show Ca2+ intensity change (Figure 3D). Figure 4 demonstrates images of Ca2+ spark linescans from skeletal muscle fibers under different physiological and pathophysiological states. Line scan (xt) series of Ca2+ sparks derived from healthy, young (3 months) wild type muscle (Figure 4A), and aged (22 months) muscle (Figure 4B). Note the reduced signal that occurs in aged muscle fibers. The young mdx muscle fibers display robust Ca2+ sparks (Figure 4C). Figure 5 shows Ca2+ sparks (xy images) from extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle fibers from wild type (Figure 5A) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease, a motor neuron disease with characteristic muscle atrophy and damaged mitochondria (Figure 5B). The Ca2+ intensities are show by Fluo-4 signals (green, left panels) and the mitochondria respiratory states are shown by TMRE signals (red, right panels). Note that the damaged mitochondria (losing TMRE signal) harbors robust Ca2+ sparks.
Figure 1. Schematic protocol of calcium sparks assessment in intact skeletal muscle fibers. Schematic protocol of calcium sparks assessment in intact skeletal muscle fibers. This shows step-wise procedure to obtain intact FDB muscle fibers for analysis and the set-up of perfusion system to induce osmotic stress on fibers. Click here to view larger image.
Figure 2. Representative Ca2+ sparks (XY images) episodes of skeletal FDB muscle fibers. The middle trace shows the timeline and the corresponding xy images (top panels) to the sequential osmotic pressure change in the protocols. Top left panel – fiber treated with Isotonic Tyrode solution; top middle panel – fiber treated with Hypotonic Tyrode solution; and top right panel – fiber returned to treatment with Isotonic Tyrode solution. A representative histogram of the spark episodes observed with xy imaging is shown on the bottom. Click here to view larger image.
Figure 3. Representative Ca2+ sparks (line scans xt images) and Spark Fit analysis. (A) Confocal line scan (red dashed line) is placed right underneath the sarcolemmal membrane of muscle fiber; (B) Osmotic stress evoked discrete Ca2+ sparks are presented as line scan (xt) mode. (C) Spark analysis with Spark Fit algorithm to demonstrate the Ca2+ intensity (Δ F/F0) which is proportional to the SR Ca2+ release flux, and kinetics (duration, represented as FDHM). (D) Three-dimensional plot of a Fluo-4 line scan image showing the osmotic stress-evoked sparks in spatio-temporal mode and their intensities. Click here to view larger image.
Figure 4. Representative Ca2+ sparks in muscle physiological and pathophysiological states in response to osmotic stress. (A) Line scans (xt images) of Ca2+ sparks derived from young (3 months) healthy FDB muscle fibers; (B) sparks from aged (22 months) FDB muscle fibers and (C) sparks from young (3 months) dystrophic mdx mouse FDB muscle. Click here to view larger image.
Figure 5. Representative Ca2+ sparks (XY images) from FDB muscles in response to osmotic stress. (A) Ca2+ sparks (XY images) from wild type FDB muscles and (B) Ca2+ sparks from ALS muscles. FDB muscle fibers simultaneously labeled with Fluo-4 AM (Ca2+, green signals, left panels) and TMRE (mitochondrial, red signals on the right panels). Images show transients before and after osmotic pressure changes. Click here to view larger image.
This method of assessing Ca2+ sparks in intact skeletal muscle is a useful tool for muscle physiology and disease research. We showed that the Ca2+ spark response was altered in different conditions, including muscular dystrophy11, aging18,19, as well as in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis20. Our recent study also revealed functional coupling between IP3 receptor and RyR representing a critical component that contributes to Ca2+ sparks activation in skeletal muscle fibers21. Several other research groups also adapted this technique to explore the functional activities and the efficacy of gene rescue strategies of dystrophic muscles12, and link Ca2+ spark signaling to altered redox stress in some disease states13,22. The fact that membrane deformation by osmotic stress to relieve the suppression of DHPR on RYR correlates nicely with the essential role of physical interaction (coupling) of DHPR-RYR in modulating Ca2+ sparks in differentiating skeletal muscle23; and thus these findings further implicate Ca2+ sparks as important physiological events. Further expansion of this technique to apply some physiological agents or inhibitors to modulate Ca2+ sparks will provide insightful information on Ca2+ signaling in the cells24.
The most critical step of our assay is to isolate and identify intact muscle fibers under microscope before Ca2+ dye loading. One crucial step in this protocol is the collagenase digestion time and temperature as changing these conditions could potentially render cell membrane damage during fiber isolation. A fiber must be firmly attached to the bottom of the delta TPG dishes and display intact morphology with characteristic straight, rod-like appearance, size of 70-100 μm (length) and 8-18 μm (cross diameter), uniform striation pattern and a smooth sarcolemmal membrane to be useful for Ca2+ sparks measurement. An improvement upon previous limitations of data collection is taking measurements at several focal planes within each fiber to capture the most accurate readings possible of the Ca2+ sparks. Although we use a custom-derived "Spark Fit" algorithm to analyze spark frequency, dynamics and characteristics, similar programs are available to public domain for analyzing spark parameters characteristics such as "SparkMaster" in ImageJ17. Slight modifications to this method could allow better visualization of Ca2+ sparks in other tissue types that respond to osmotic-stress mediated triggering of Ca2+ release from the ryanodine receptor.
Visualization of local and global Ca2+ signals in adult skeletal muscle fibers is a very useful tool for muscle physiology and cardiovascular research. Expansion of this method for detection of Ca2+ sparks in skeletal muscle together with different animal models of human disease research and implementation of the powerful molecular biology approaches (e.g. gene overexpression or gene silencing) should produce vast information on the regulation of Ca2+ signaling in human health and diseases.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported by RO1- AG028614 to JM, RO1- AR063084to NLW, and RO1-AR057404 to JZ.
Dissecting microscope | Dissect out fibers and check muscle integrity | ||
Dissection tools -scissors, and fine tip forceps | Fine Science Tools | ||
Sylgard 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit | DOW CORNING | 184 SIL ELAST KIT | Make ahead of time for fiber dissection. Mix 5 ml liquid Sylgard components and pour into a 60-mm glass Petri dish and waiting 48 hr to let the Sylgard compound become clear, colorless solid substrate. |
60-mm glass petri dish | Pyrex | 3160 | Fiber dissection |
Isotonic Tyrode Solution | Sigma-Aldrich | ||
Minimal Ca2+ Tyrode Solution | Sigma-Aldrich | ||
Hypotonic Tyrode Solution | Sigma-Aldrich | ||
collagenase type I | Sigma-Aldrich | C-5138 | Fiber digestion |
Fluo-4 AM | Invitrogen | F14201 | Fluorescent Ca2+ imaging dyes |
TMRE | Invitrogen | T669 | mitochondrial membrane potential fluorescent dyes |
Delta TPG dishes | Bioptechs | 0420041500C | 35 mm glass bottom dish for imaging |
Spark Fit software | data analysis software | ||
Radiance 2100 laser scanning confocal microscope or equivalent microscope | Bio-Rad | ||
3 axis micromanipulator | Narishige International | MHW-3 | |
temperature controllable orbital shaker | New Brunswick scientific | Fiber dissociation |