Membrane excitability and celluar Ca2+ homeostasis in intact muscle cells from deep sea fish salvaged during an open sea expedition in 2007: elucidating mechanismus that correlate with adaption to ambient elevated pressure at depth

Life under pressure is still a mystery although 99% of the earth’s biosphere resides in the deep ocean where ambient pressure can increase to levels up to 110MPa. High pressure bioscience is a growing research field gaining more and more attention from studying the effects of high pressures on cellular functions. In the last years, many projects dealt with pressure effects on nervous system and muscle in mammals or amphibians and showed marked alterations in function under pressure. However, not much is known about mechanisms that must have evolved to enable animals that reside in the deep sea to circumvent such restrictions. Studying deep sea fish is complicated as they may not survive decompression upon salvage and can hardly be kept in aquariums. On-site experimentation during open-sea expeditions offers an alternative to study freshly salvaged samples. In the present project, the applicant aims to investigate membrane excitability and Ca2+-homeostasis in muscle samples from deep sea fish during an expedition on the German research vessel ’ Sonne‘ in July 2007 that has never been attempted in this way before. The results from such an approach might provide valuable insights into how cells functionally have separated from terrestrian counterparts to withstand high pressure.

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