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Biol Bull 141: 269-277. (October 1971)
© 1971 Marine Biological Laboratory
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INDUCED MYOGENIC ACTIVITY IN THE NEUROGENIC HEART OF LIMULUS POLYPHEMUS

FRED LANG 1

1 Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois

Myogenic activity could be initiated in a deganglionated Limulus heart in two different ways. If immersed in "isotonic" sodium chloride (600 mM) the heart began to contract locally in 5-10 minutes. These contractions were seldom coordinated and were due to overshooting spikes of long duration (100 msec.). Spike height was a function of the external sodium ion concentration. The activity was completely abolished upon addition of 2-3 mM CaCl2.

A second type of myogenic activity could be initiated by inflating a deganglionated heart with air and immersing it in sea water or physiological solution. The contractions began in 10-20 min in one of the anterior segments and travelled peristaltically in both directions. Activity was caused by non-overshooting spikes.

Both types of myogenic activity were resistant to tetrodotoxin (TTX, 10-5 M) and procaine (10-4 M).






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