In many cell types, transfer of Ca 2؉ released via ryanodine receptors (RyR) to the mitochondrial matrix is locally supported by high [Ca 2؉ ] microdomains at close contacts between the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and mitochondria. Here we studied whether the close contacts were secured via direct physical coupling in cardiac muscle using isolated rat heart mitochondria (RHMs). "Immuno-organelle chemistry" revealed RyR2 and calsequestrin-positive SR particles associated with mitochondria in both crude and Percoll-purified "heavy" mitochondrial fractions (cRHM and pRHM), to a smaller extent in the latter one. Mitochondria-associated vesicles were also visualized by electron microscopy in the RHMs. Western blot analysis detected greatly reduced presence of SR markers (calsequestrin, SERCA2a, and phospholamban) in pRHM, suggesting that the mitochondria-associated particles represented a small subfraction of the SR. signal propagation from the ryanodine receptors (RyR, the phylogenetic ancestors of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor) to the mitochondria in cardiac muscle cells (9, 10) and in skeletal muscle (11-13). However, whether the local Ca 2ϩ communication between the SR and mitochondria is supported by physical coupling is yet to be elucidated. Very recently, Protasi and co-workers (14, 15) have visualized tethering structures between SR and mitochondria in electron micrographs and tomographs of skeletal muscle, although those data did not examine the involvement of the tethers in the Ca 2ϩ communication between the organelles. A local metabolic triangle between the sarcomere, SR, and mitochondria that could be dissociated by limited proteolysis in permeabilized cardiomyocytes has also been described earlier (16). Here, we studied the preservation of the SR-mitochondrial associations and local Ca 2ϩ coupling between RyR and mitochondria by visualization of individual organelles and monitoring their function in mitochondria isolated from rat heart homogenates.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Chemicals/ImmunochemicalsFluorescent probes and fluorescently labeled secondary antibodies were from Molecular Probes (Eugene, OR), except the Ca 2ϩ probes fura2 (K ϩ salt) and rhod2 acetoxymethylester (rhod2/AM), which were purchased from Teflabs (Austin, TX). Primary antibodies were obtained as follows: mouse monoclonal: anti-RyR2 from ABR (MA3-916), anti-phospholamban from Abcam (ab2865), and anti-cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 from Molecular Probes (A6403); rabbit polyclonal: anti-RyR2 * This work was supported by an American Heart Association Grant SDG 0435236N. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.