Morphological analysis of contracting and quiescent adult rabbit cardiac myocytes in long-term culture.

Isolated rabbit ventricular cardiac myocytes adapt readily to primary culture. As the myocytes spread and flatten over the culture substratum, the myofibrillar apparatus retains a "rod-like" orientation. Development of contractile activity is crucial in the maintenance of the integrity of the myofibrillar apparatus during prolonged culture. Myocytes that fail to beat display morphological indications of atrophy; conversely, myocytes that commence beating show no such morphological signs of myofibrillar disorganization. The subcellular organization of other elements of the contractile apparatus, including the transverse tubular system and the sarcoplasmic reticulum, retain their structural relationship with the myofibrils in beating myocytes but not in quiescent cells. Cultured adult myocytes represent an important model to investigate the influence of mechanical factors on the organization and maintenance of the adult cardiac phenotype.