Excitation–contraction coupling reflects the metabolic profile of mantle muscle in young cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)

The mantle muscle of common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, is responsible both for high-magnitude and rapid movements for locomotion, as well as sustained ventilation, which require specific metabolic, electrophysiological, and structural organization. Young cuttlefish have a highly oxidative phenotype and a rapid growth rate. Here, we show high rates of oxygen consumption and protein synthesis in juveniles, and these rates decay exponentially over the first few weeks of growth. This is associated with considerable citrate synthase activity (relative to larger cuttlefish) but a lack of glucose metabolism based on zero uptake of glucose by isolated muscle sheets and minimal activity of hexokinase (similar to larger animals). In contrast to glucose metabolism in the heart, glucose metabolism in these muscle sheets was not stimulated by extracellular taurine. Previous research revealed an unusual ion channel complement in mantle myocytes, the most notable feature of which is the lack of a Na⁺ current during depolarization. Because this adaptation is not consistent across the coleoid clade, we investigated excitation–contraction coupling. Here, mantle energetics and contractility, including the individual components of the total Ca²⁺ flux driving contraction, were studied. Results indicate that the majority of Ca²⁺ current underlying contractile stress development capacity in cuttlefish juveniles is not mediated by dihydropyridine-sensitive L-type channels, in contrast to their adult counterparts, and the sarcoplasmic reticulum contributes little to routine contractility. We had previously noted an influence of physiological levels of taurine in limiting cardiac contractility but found no analogous sensitivity in mantle muscle. Finally, transmission electron microscopy of subcellular architecture revealed the presence of sarcoplasmic tubular aggregates, suggesting that oxidative inhibition of sarcoplasmic reticulum function limits its role in this life stage.