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Seasonal acclimatization of the cardiac action potential in the Arctic navaga cod (Eleginus navaga, Gadidae)

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Abstract

Freshwater fishes of north-temperate latitudes adjust electrical excitability of the heart to seasonal temperature changes by changing expression levels of ion channel isoforms. However, little is known about thermal responses of action potential (AP) in the hearts of marine polar fishes. To this end, we examined cardiac AP in the atrial myocardium of the Arctic navaga cod (Eleginus navaga) from the White Sea (Russia) acclimatized to winter (March) and summer (September) seasons. Acute increases in temperature from 4 to 10 °C were associated with increases in heart rate, maximum velocity of AP upstroke and negative resting membrane potential, while duration of AP was shortened in both winter-acclimatized and summer-acclimatized navaga hearts. In winter, there was a compensatory shortening (41.1 %) of atrial AP duration and this was associated with a strong increase in transcript expression of Erg K+ channels, known to produce the rapid component of the delayed rectifier K+ current, I Kr. Smaller increases were found in the expression of Kir2.1 channels that produce the inward rectifier K+ current, I K1. These findings indicate that the heart of navaga cod has a good acclimatory capacity in electrical excitation of cardiac myocytes, which enables cardiac function in the cold-eurythermal waters of the subarctic White Sea.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Riitta Pietarinen for her excellent technical assistance. Authors thank the director of the White Sea Biological Station Dr. Alexander B. Tzetlin for general support of this study. Authors are also grateful to Valo V. Sivonen and Valentina P. Sivonen for capturing the fish. The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research [12-04-31737 to D.V.A.] and a grant from the Academy of Finland (project no. 14795) to MV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Minna Hassinen & Matti Vornanen

  2. Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, Russia

    Denis V. Abramochkin

  3. Department of Fundamental and Applied Physiology, Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

    Denis V. Abramochkin

Authors
  1. Minna Hassinen
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  2. Denis V. Abramochkin
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  3. Matti Vornanen
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Correspondence to Matti Vornanen.

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Communicated by H.V. Carey.

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Hassinen, M., Abramochkin, D.V. & Vornanen, M. Seasonal acclimatization of the cardiac action potential in the Arctic navaga cod (Eleginus navaga, Gadidae). J Comp Physiol B 184, 319–327 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-013-0797-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-013-0797-5

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