Abstract
A- and I-band striation positions have been obtained, three-dimensionally reconstructed, and statistically analyzed from the volumes of resting isolated heart cells. Striation patterns from optically discrete subvolumes are imaged along the length of these myocytes with a computer-interfaced optical microscope imaging system. Planar striation maps are reconstructed by the computer from sequentially obtained striation pattern images displaced across the width or depth of the cell in controlled steps. Multiple planar maps are combined to form full three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions that illustrate the sarcomeric structure and ordering throughout the volume of the cell. These reconstructions demonstrate a high degree of striation registration throughout most regions of cardiac cells. The striation registration is often slightly (less than 10 degrees) skewed across the width or depth of nearly every cell and is occasionally disrupted between adjacent groups of sarcomeres. These disruptions in registration are always associated with the locations of the nuclei. Rigorous statistical analyses indicate small volumetric regions of the cell delineated by these disruptions can have significantly (0.014-0.113 micron) shorter or longer average sarcomere length periodicities. Unlike skeletal muscle "fibrillenstruktur," these data from cardiac cells exhibit no evidence of helical packing schemes for sarcomere order. These observations suggest that the relatively large nuclei displace and disrupt the normal registration of the sarcomeres, which is probably mediated by internal cytoskeletal structures.