The internal and external protein scaffold of the T-tubular system in cardiomyocytes

The transverse tubule system of the cardiomyocyte remains undeformed despite the extreme forces it undergoes during the contraction-relaxation cycle, but the morphological basis for its stability remains unclear. Therefore, we have investigated the architecture and subcellular protein scaffold of the cardiac T-tubules and compared it with that of the costameres and of the free sarcolemma. Tissue samples from normal rat and monkey hearts, and left ventricular tissue from normal and cardiomyopathic human hearts obtained at transplantation surgery were investigated using immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy and by electron microscopy. In addition, we used a re-differentiation model of isolated, cultured adult rat cardiomyocytes. The cell membrane of the cardiac T-tubules was found to contain the cell-matrix focal adhesion molecules (FAMs) vinculin, talin, the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin and the membrane-associated proteins (MAPs) dystrophin and spectrin. FAMs and MAPs were localized in the T-tubular membrane in a similar pattern: in longitudinally oriented myocytes as transverse punctate lines at the Z-level; in transversally cut myocytes a radial tubular network was found to extend throughout the interior of the cell. Immunolabeling for basement membrane components including collagen IV, fibronectin and laminin showed a colocalization with FAMs and MAPs parallel to the transverse T-tubules. The costameres of the sarcolemma showed a protein composition resembling that of the T-tubules but the intervening segments of free sarcolemma showed absence of FAMs and presence of MAPs. For the first time, we demonstrate the existence and protein composition of the T-tubular scaffold in the human heart. Furthermore, we show that cardiomyocytes from human failing hearts have less abundant but more dilated T-tubules than do experimental animals. These results indicate that the cardiac T-tubular system contains a subcellular scaffold closely resembling that of the costameres. It consists of FAMs, MAPs and basal lamina proteins that confer structural integrity to the cardiac T-tubular membrane during contraction/relaxation cycles.