Kappa-opioid peptide receptor stimulation increases cytosolic pH and myofilament responsiveness to Ca2+ in cardiac myocytes.

Although kappa- and delta-opioid receptors on mammalian cardiac myocytes have been discovered recently, the intracellular effects that result from stimulation of these receptors remain unknown. We examine the effects of a rapid and brief exposure to a kappa-opioid receptor agonist on intracellular Ca2+, pH, and cell length in individual isolated rat ventricular cells. The specific kappa-agonist trans-dl-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)cyclohexyl]- benzene-acetamide (U-50488H) (methane sulfonate salt) caused a transient increase in cytosolic pH (pHi) measured from the change in SNARF-1 fluorescence and an increase in cytosolic [Ca2+] (Cai), indexed by a change in indo-1 fluorescence. The initial Cai increase often was followed by Cai oscillations. Both pHi and Cai effects were blocked by the specific antagonist kappa-opioid receptor l-(N-furylmethyl)-alpha-normetazocine methane-sulfonate (Mr 1452). The amplitude of contraction that accompanied the Cai increase elicited by U-50488H was greater than that associated with a similar increase in Cai elicited by electrical stimulation or by the rapid exposure of cells to caffeine. Thus an acute and brief kappa-opioid receptor stimulation of cardiac cells leads to an increase in Cai and pHi. The pHi increase was abolished by 1) blockade of the Na(+)-H+ exchanger by ethyl isopropyl amiloride and 2) inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) activity via pretreatment with staurosporine or prolonged incubation with 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. These maneuvers did not abolish the U-50488H-induced increase in Ca.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)