Morphometric analysis of the isolated calcium-tolerant cardiac myocyte. Organelle volumes, sarcomere length, plasma membrane surface folds, and intramembrane particle density and distribution.

Using morphometric analysis of thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas, the ultrastructure of isolated rat myocytes prepared by collagenase digestion (Powell et al. 1980) was compared with that of myocytes fixed by perfusion of intact myocardium. The volumes of myofibrils, mitochondria, nuclei, sarcoplasmic reticulum and lipid droplets in the isolated myocytes did not differ from those of their counterparts in the intact heart, but the volume occupied by transverse tubules was apparently reduced. The isolated cells had significantly shorter sarcomeres than did cells in the intact tissue, and this was associated with an altered topography of plasma membrane surface folds at the level of the Z-lines. Plasma membrane intramembrane particles were randomly distributed and showed the same numerical density on the E-faces of both isolated and intact-heart myocytes. However, P-face particle density was slightly reduced in the isolated cells. It is concluded that the few differences detected in the isolated cells do not reflect any fundamental derangement of their properties.