Abstract
This review focuses on the normal physiological mechanisms that control calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) during electrical depolarization of functioning vertebrate skeletal muscle fibers. Special at tention is devoted to questions concerning the functional interactions between components of the calcium release and control system. In vertebrate skeletal muscle the two known components reside in separate but closely apposed membranes: the junctional membrane of the SR, which contains the SR calcium release channel, and the immediately adjacent membrane of the transverse tubules (TT) , which contains the TT membrane voltage-sensing elements that control the SR calcium channel. The TT system carries the electrical depolarization signal from the plasma membrane radially into the fiber for near-synchronous initiation of SR calcium release throughout the fiber volume. Several recent reviews have covered various functional aspects of these components as well as their interaction in physiological depolar ization-release coupling (6, 23, 35, 43, 65, 86, 108, 109, 110, l lI). The restricted length of the present review has required focus on selected areas to the unfortunate neglect of related but peripheral studies and use of only typical examples as references to general points. Molecular, structural, and molecular biological aspects of the calcium release and control system are presented in companion reviews (G Meissner; C Franzini-Armstrong & A Jorgensen, this volume).
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