Mechano-electric feedback in the fish heart.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 20479879.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0010548 and PMC identifier PMC1420590.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mechanoelectric feedback (MEF) describes the modulation of electrical activity by mechanical activity. This may occur via the activation of mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs). MEF has not previously been investigated in fish ventricular tissue even though fish can greatly increase ventricular end diastolic volume during exercise which should therefore provide a powerful mechanical stimulus for MEF. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: When the ventricles of extrinsically paced, isolated working trout hearts were dilated by increasing afterload, monophasic action potential (MAP) duration was significantly shortened at 25% repolarisation, unaltered at 50% repolarisation and significantly lengthened at 90% repolarisation. This observation is consistent with the activation of cationic non-selective MSCs (MSC(NS)s). We then cloned the trout ortholog of TRPC1, a candidate MSC(NS) and confirmed its presence in the trout heart. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results have validated the use of MAP technology for the fish heart and suggest that, in common with amphibians and mammals, MEF operates in fish ventricular myocardium, possibly via the activation of mechanosensitive TRPC1 ion channels.