Postnatal development has a marked effect on ventricular repolarization in mice

2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (4) ◽  
pp. H2168-H2177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Grandy ◽  
Véronique Trépanier-Boulay ◽  
Céline Fiset

To better understand the mechanisms that underlie cardiac repolarization abnormalities in the immature heart, this study characterized and compared K+ currents in mouse ventricular myocytes from day 1, day 7, day 20, and adult CD1 mice to determine the effects of postnatal development on ventricular repolarization. Current- and patch-clamp techniques were used to examine action potentials and the K+ currents underlying repolarization in isolated myocytes. RT-PCR was used to quantify mRNA expression for the K+ channels of interest. This study found that action potential duration (APD) decreased as age increased, with the shortest APDs observed in adult myocytes. This study also showed that K+ currents and the mRNA relative abundance for the various K+ channels were significantly greater in adult myocytes compared with day 1 myocytes. Examination of the individual components of total K+ current revealed that the inward rectifier K+ current ( IK1) developed by day 7, both the Ca2+-independent transient outward current ( Ito) and the steady-state outward K+ current ( Iss) developed by day 20, and the ultrarapid delayed rectifier K+ current ( IKur) did not fully develop until the mouse reached maturity. Interestingly, the increase in IKur was not associated with a decrease in APD. Comparison of atrial and ventricular K+ currents showed that Ito and IKur density were significantly greater in day 7, day 20, and adult myocytes compared with age-matched atrial cells. Overall, it appears that, in mouse ventricle, developmental changes in APD are likely attributable to increases in Ito, Iss, and IK1, whereas the role of IKur during postnatal development appears to be less critical to APD.

2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (3) ◽  
pp. H806-H817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Gintant

Although inactivation of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier current ( I Kr) limits outward current on depolarization, the role of I Kr (and recovery from inactivation) during repolarization is uncertain. To characterize I Krduring ventricular repolarization (and compare with the inward rectifier current, I K1), voltage-clamp waveforms simulating the action potential were applied to canine ventricular, atrial, and Purkinje myocytes. In ventricular myocytes, I Kr was minimal at plateau potentials but transiently increased during repolarizing ramps. The I Kr transient was unaffected by repolarization rate and maximal after 150-ms depolarizations (+25 mV). Action potential clamps revealed the I Kr transient terminating the plateau. Although peak I Kr transient density was relatively uniform among myocytes, potentials characterizing the peak transients were widely dispersed. In contrast, peak inward rectifier current ( I K1) density during repolarization was dispersed, whereas potentials characterizing I K1 defined a narrower (more negative) voltage range. In summary, rapidly activating I Kr provides a delayed voltage-dependent (and functionally time-independent) outward transient during ventricular repolarization, consistent with rapid recovery from inactivation. The heterogeneous voltage dependence of I Kr provides a novel means for modulating the contribution of this current during repolarization.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIN DONG ◽  
SUJUAN YAN ◽  
YAMEI CHEN ◽  
PAUL J. NIKLEWSKI ◽  
XIAOYIN SUN ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 360a-361a
Author(s):  
Min Dong ◽  
Sujuan Yan ◽  
Paul Niklewski ◽  
Yamei Chen ◽  
Hong-Sheng Wang

1987 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
G N Tseng ◽  
R B Robinson ◽  
B F Hoffman

The membrane potential and membrane currents of single canine ventricular myocytes were studied using either single microelectrodes or suction pipettes. The myocytes displayed passive membrane properties and an action potential configuration similar to those described for multicellular dog ventricular tissue. As for other cardiac cells, in canine ventricular myocytes: (a) an inward rectifier current plays an important role in determining the resting membrane potential and repolarization rate; (b) a tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na current helps maintain the action potential plateau; and (c) the Ca current has fast kinetics and a large amplitude. Unexpected findings were the following: (a) in approximately half of the myocytes, there is a transient outward current composed of two components, one blocked by 4-aminopyridine and the other by Mn or caffeine; (b) there is clearly a time-dependent outward current (delayed rectifier current) that contributes to repolarization; and (c) the relationship of maximum upstroke velocity of phase 0 to membrane potential is more positive and steeper than that observed in cardiac tissues from Purkinje fibers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajan Sah ◽  
Pietro Mesirca ◽  
Xenos Mason ◽  
Christopher Bates-Withers ◽  
William Gibson ◽  
...  

Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin-7 (TRPM7) is a divalent permeant channel-kinase of unknown function. It is concentrated in myocardium during embryonic development, and TRPM7-like current has been reported in adult ventricular myocytes. In atrial cardiac fibroblasts, TRPM7 has been implicated in fibrogenesis in patients with atrial fibrillation, however its function in ventricular myocardium is unexplored. We tested the hypothesis that TRPM7 is required for ventricular function by crossing TRPM7fl/- mice with the cardiac-targeted αMHC-Cre line (αMHC-TRPM7 KO). We show that TRPM7 forms a functional current in adult murine ventricular cardiomyocytes and demonstrate that ∼50% of αMHC-TRPM7 KO mice develop a cardiomyopathy with left ventricular dysfunction and cardiac hypertrophy, associated with heart block and impaired ventricular repolarization. This phenotype is associated with robust elevations in mRNA of Postn, Nppa, Timp1, Acta and reductions in Hdac9, Kcnv2, Kcnj3, Kcnd2, Lgi1 and Hcn4. Consistent with mRNA expression analysis and the observed electrical remodeling, patch-clamp of αMHC-Cre-TRPM7 KO ventricular myocytes (RV and LV) reveals significant action potential prolongation (2.5 to 4-fold increase in APD50) due to a 2 to 4-fold reduction in transient outward current (Ito, encoded by Kcnd2). Similarly, the funny current (If), encoded by Hcn4, is diminished 4-fold in atrioventricular nodal cells isolated from αMHC-Cre-Trpm7 KO hearts, accounting for the observed heart block. The ∼50% of αMHC-Cre-Trpm7 KO mice that do not develop cardiomyopathy are devoid of heart block, show normal expression levels of hypertrophy genes Postn, Nppa, and Acta, but continue to show significant reductions in Kcnd2, Lgi1, Kcnj3, Kcnv2, and Hdac9 expression. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that cardiac-targeted TRPM7 deletion dysregulates the expression of ion channels important for cardiomyocyte repolarization (Kcnd2) and atrioventricular conduction (Hcn4), leading to impaired ventricular repolarization and heart block in mice. The observed cardiomyopathy may arise from hemodynamic stresses secondary to chronic bradycardia from heart block in the setting of down-regulated histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9).


2006 ◽  
Vol 291 (2) ◽  
pp. H631-H637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Dong ◽  
Xiaoyin Sun ◽  
Astrid A. Prinz ◽  
Hong-Sheng Wang

The transient outward current ( Ito) is a major repolarizing current in the heart. Marked reduction of Ito density occurs in heart failure and is accompanied by significant action potential duration (APD) prolongation. To understand the species-dependent role of Ito in regulating the ventricular action potential morphology and duration, we introduced simulated Ito conductance in guinea pig and canine endocardial ventricular myocytes using the dynamic clamp technique and perforated patch-clamp recordings. The effects of simulated Ito in both types of cells were complex and biphasic, separated by a clear density threshold of ∼40 pA/pF. Below this threshold, simulated Ito resulted in a distinct phase 1 notch and had little effect on or moderately prolonged the APD. Ito above the threshold resulted in all-or-none repolarization and precipitously reduced the APD. Qualitatively, these results agreed with our previous studies in canine ventricular cells using whole cell recordings. We conclude that 1) contrary to previous gene transfer studies involving the Kv4.3 current, the response of guinea pig ventricular myocytes to a fully inactivating Ito is similar to that of canine ventricular cells and 2) in animals such as dogs that have a broad cardiac action potential, Ito does not play a major role in setting the APD.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (3) ◽  
pp. H1078-H1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Gomez ◽  
J. P. Benitah ◽  
D. Henzel ◽  
A. Vinet ◽  
P. Lorente ◽  
...  

Modulation of the regional distribution of the action potential by left ventricular hypertrophy and the role of the L-type Ca2+ current (I(Ca)) and transient outward current (I(to)) in the action potential duration (APD) were investigated in normal and hypertrophied rat ventricular myocytes from the apex (A), septum (S) and left ventricular free wall (FW) by using whole cell current- and voltage-clamp techniques. Hypertrophy was induced by abdominal aortic constriction. In control cells, the APD measured at 20% repolarization (APD20) assumed the shortest values in the A and the longest in the S, whereas FW cells showed intermediate values. Hypertrophy significantly prolonged the APD20 and increased APD variability within the A and FW regions but did not modify the APD in S cells. Analysis of the APD, I(Ca), and I(to) at the instant of 20% repolarization in the same cell showed that in control cells the shortest APD20 was associated with a prominent I(to) in the A and FW, whereas the long APD20 was identified with a lower I(to) in S myocytes. Hypertrophy-induced prolongation ofAPD20 was associated with a reduction in the I(to) in the A and FW. Significant correlations could be established between the APD20 and the "net current," defined as the algebraic addition of I(to) and I(Ca) in the A and FW control groups but not in the control S or hypertrophied cells whatever their origin. Our results indicate that interregional APD heterogeneity is lost while intraregional APD variability is increased in the A and FW during the hypertrophic process. These effects are largely due to a change in the balance between the I(Ca) and I(to), which is a major contributing factor to the heterogeneity of the initial phase of repolarization in the normal rat ventricle.


1990 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Balser ◽  
P B Bennett ◽  
D M Roden

Several conflicting models have been used to characterize the gating behavior of the cardiac delayed rectifier. In this study, whole-cell delayed rectifier currents were measured in voltage-clamped guinea pig ventricular myocytes, and a minimal model which reproduced the observed kinetic behavior was identified. First, whole-cell potassium currents between -10 and +70 mV were recorded using external solutions designed to eliminate Na and Ca currents and two components of time-dependent outward current were found. One component was a La3(+)-sensitive current which inactivated and resembled the transient outward current described in other cell types; single-channel observations confirmed the presence of a transient outward current in these guinea pig ventricular cells (gamma = 9.9 pS, [K]o = 4.5 mM). Analysis of envelopes of tail amplitudes demonstrated that this component was absent in solutions containing 30-100 microM La3+. The remaining time-dependent current, IK, activated with a sigmoidal time course that was well-characterized by three time constants. Nonlinear least-squares fits of a four-state Markovian chain model (closed - closed - closed - open) to IK activation were therefore compared to other models previously used to characterize IK gating: n2 and n4 Hodgkin-Huxley models and a Markovian chain model with only two closed states. In each case the four-state model was significantly better (P less than 0.05). The failure of the Hodgkin-Huxley models to adequately describe the macroscopic current indicates that identical and independent gating particles should not be assumed for this K channel. The voltage-dependent terms describing the rate constants for the four-state model were then derived using a global fitting approach for IK data obtained over a wide range of potentials (-80 to +70 mV). The fit was significantly improved by including a term representing the membrane dipole forces (P less than 0.01). The resulting rate constants predicted long single-channel openings (greater than 1 s) at voltages greater than 0 mV. In cell-attached patches, single delayed rectifier channels which had a mean chord conductance of 5.4 pS at +60 mV ([K]o = 4.5 mM) were recorded for brief periods. These channels exhibited behavior predicted by the four-state model: long openings and latency distributions with delayed peaks. These results suggest that the cardiac delayed rectifier undergoes at least two major transitions between closed states before opening upon depolarization.


1989 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
R. R. Stewart ◽  
J. G. Nicholls ◽  
W. B. Adams

1. Na+, K+ and Ca2+ currents have been measured by voltage-clamp in Retzius (R), anterior pagoda (AP) and sensory (pressure, touch and nociceptive) cells dissected from the central nervous system (CNS) of the leech. These cells maintain their distinctive membrane properties and action potential configurations in culture. Currents carried by the individual ions were analysed by the use of channel blockers and by their kinetics. Since the cells are isopotential they can be voltage-clamped effectively. 2. Depolarization, as expected, gave rise to an early inward Na+ current followed by a delayed outward K+ current. In Na+-free medium containing tetraethylammonium (TEA+), and in the presence of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), inward Ca2+ currents were revealed that inactivated slowly and were blocked by Cd2+ and Mn2+. 3. Na+ and Ca2+ currents were similar in their characteristics in R. AP and sensory neurones. In contrast, K+ currents showed marked differences. Three principal K+ currents were identified. These differed in their time courses of activation and inactivation and in their responses to Ca2+ channel blockers. 4. K+ currents of the A-type (IA) activated and inactivated rapidly, were not affected by Ca2+ channel blockers and were eliminated by steady-state inactivation at holding potentials of −30 mV. A-type K+ currents were found in AP cells and as a minor component of the outward current in R cells. A Ca2+-activated K+ current (IC), that inactivated more slowly and was reduced by Ca2+ channel blockers, constituted the major outward current in R cells. The third K+ current resembled the delayed rectifier currents (IK1 and IK2) of squid axons with slow activation and inactivation kinetics. Such currents were found in R cells and in the sensory neurones (T, P and N). 5. The principal differences in membrane properties of identified leech neurones can be explained in terms of the numbers of Na+ channels and the distinctive kinetics of K+ channels in each type of cell.


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