Modeling the calcium sequestration system in isolated guinea pig cardiac mitochondria

Under high Ca2+ load conditions, Ca2+ concentrations in the extra-mitochondrial and mitochondrial compartments do not display reciprocal dynamics. This is due to a paradoxical increase in the mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering power as the Ca2+ load increases. Here we develop and characterize a mechanism of the mitochondrial Ca2+ sequestration system using an experimental data set from isolated guinea pig cardiac mitochondria. The proposed mechanism elucidates this phenomenon and others in a mathematical framework and is integrated into a previously corroborated model of oxidative phosphorylation including the Na+/Ca2+ cycle. The integrated model reproduces the Ca2+ dynamics observed in both compartments of the isolated mitochondria respiring on pyruvate after a bolus of CaCl2 followed by ruthenium red and a bolus of NaCl. The model reveals why changes in mitochondrial Ca2+ concentration of Ca2+ loaded mitochondria appear significantly mitigated relative to the corresponding extra-mitochondrial Ca2+ concentration changes after Ca2+ efflux is initiated. The integrated model was corroborated by simulating the set-point phenomenon. The computational results support the conclusion that the Ca2+ sequestration system is composed of at least two classes of Ca2+ buffers. The first class represents prototypical Ca2+ buffering, and the second class encompasses the complex binding events associated with the formation of amorphous calcium phosphate. With the Ca2+ sequestration system in mitochondria more precisely defined, computer simulations can aid in the development of innovative therapeutics aimed at addressing the myriad of complications that arise due to mitochondrial Ca2+ overload.