Muscle fibre mitochondrial [Ca2+] dynamics during Ca2+ waves in RYR1 gain‐of‐function mouse

AbstractAimA fraction of the Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) enters mitochondria to transiently increase its [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]mito). This transient [Ca2+]mito increase may be important in the resynthesis of ATP and other processes. The resynthesis of ATP in the mitochondria generates heat that can lead to hypermetabolic reactions in muscle with ryanodine receptor 1 (RyR1) variants during the cyclic releasing of SR Ca2+ in the presence of a RyR1 agonist. We aimed to analyse whether the mitochondria of RYR1 variant muscle handles Ca2+ differently from healthy muscle.MethodsWe used confocal microscopy to track mitochondrial and cytoplasmic Ca2+ with fluorescent dyes simultaneously during caffeine‐induced Ca2+ waves in extensor digitorum longus muscle fibres from healthy mice and mice heterozygous (HET) for a malignant hyperthermia‐causative RYR1 variant.ResultsMitochondrial Ca2+‐transient peaks trailed the peak of cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients by many seconds with [Ca2+]mito not increasing by more than 250 nM. A strong linear relationship between cytoplasmic Ca2+ and [Ca2+]mito amplitudes was observed in HET RYR1 KI fibres but not wild type (WT).ConclusionOur results indicate that [Ca2+]mito change within the nM range during SR Ca2+ release. HET fibre mitochondria are more sensitive to SR Ca2+ release flux than WT. This may indicate post‐translation modification differences of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter between the genotypes.