Ultrastructure, calcium accumulation, and contractile response in smooth muscle.

After removing extracellular Ca2+ with [ethylene bis(oxyethylenenitrilo)]tetraacetic acid, we found that the guinea pig vas deferens (VD) was mechanically responsive to electrical stimulation for a significantly greater length of time than was guinea pig taenia coli (TC). An obvious explanation for these findings is that the VD has more intracellular calcium available for contraction than does the TC. To determine if this explanation is plausible, the volume of internal storage structures within the two muscles was compared. It was found that the volumes of potential sequestering structures in the VD and TC are not significantly different. Next, the affinities of the storage structures for calcium were compared. The VD was found to accumulate approximately twice as much 45Ca as did the TC, as determined by 45Ca autoradiography. Calcium-45 was present to a greater extent in association with surface vesicles, sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), and mitochondria than in the unassociated state within the cytoplasmic matrix. Based on the results of these experiments, we suggest that the VD and the TC of the guinea pig differ in the affinity of their storage sites for calcium.