Publications by authors named "Luke Stuart"
The funny current, I, was first recorded in the heart 40 or more years ago by Dario DiFrancesco and others. Since then, we have learnt that I plays an important role in pacemaking in the sinus node, the innate pacemaker of the heart, and more recently evidence has accumulated to show that I may play an important role in action potential conduction through the atrioventricular (AV) node. Evidence has also accumulated to show that regulation of the transcription and translation of the underlying Hcn genes plays an important role in the regulation of sinus node pacemaking and AV node conduction under normal physiological conditions - in athletes, during the circadian rhythm, in pregnancy, and during postnatal development - as well as pathological states - ageing, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, diabetes and atrial fibrillation.
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- Purkinje fibers (PFs) are critical for coordinating heart contractions and their dysfunction is linked to arrhythmias in heart failure (HF) patients.
- *In a study using various advanced techniques, researchers induced HF in rabbits, revealing significant changes in PF function, including prolonged electrical intervals and alterations in ion channel expression.
- *Results showed that HF leads to structural and electrical remodeling of the PF network, contributing to disrupted heart rhythm and impaired ventricular responsiveness.
Background The sinus node (SN) is the primary pacemaker of the heart. SN myocytes possess distinctive action potential morphology with spontaneous diastolic depolarization because of a unique expression of ion channels and Ca-handling proteins. MicroRNAs (miRs) inhibit gene expression.
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