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First published online October 7, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3935-3944 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01221
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Characterization of the voltage-activated currents in cultured atrial myocytes isolated from the heart of the common oyster Crassostrea gigas

Jean-Pierre Pennec*, Hélène Talarmin, Mikaël Droguet, Marie-Agnès Giroux-Metgès, Maxime Gioux and Germaine Dorange

EA 3879, Unité de Physiologie Comparée et Intégrative, Institut de Synergie des Sciences et de la Santé, 22 avenue Camille Desmoulins, CS93837, 29238, Brest-cedex 3, France

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: jpennec{at}univ-brest.fr)

Accepted 2 August 2004

Using the macro-patch clamp technique, we show that cardiac myocytes isolated from the heart of the oyster Crassostrea gigas possess several types of voltage-activated ionic currents. (1) A classical non-inactivating potassium current of the IK type that is inhibited by tetraethyl ammonium and shows an outward rectification and a slow activation. (2) A potassium current of the IA type that shows rapid activation and inactivation, and is blocked by 4-amino pyridine or preliminary depolarisation. (3) A potassium calcium-dependent current that is inhibited by charybdotoxin, activated by strong depolarisations and shows a large conductance. (4) A calcium inward current of the L-type that is inhibited by verapamil, cobalt and high concentrations of cadmium. This current is identified in most cells, but a T-type calcium current and classical fast sodium current are only identified in few cells, and only after a strong hyperpolarizing pulse. This suggests that these channels are normally inactivated in cultured cells and are not involved in the spontaneous activity of these cells. When they exist, the fast sodium channel is blocked by tetrodotoxin. The L-type calcium conductance is increased by serotonin. The identification in cultured oyster atrial cells of classical ionic currents, which are observed in most vertebrate species but only in a few species of molluscs, demonstrates that these cells are an interesting model. Moreover the viability and the electrophysiological properties of these cells are not significantly modified by freezing and thawing, thus increasing their usefulness in various bioassays.

Key words: bivalve, oyster, Crassostrea gigas, heart, ionic current, cell culture, patch clamp, bioassay, cryopreservation


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004