Ischemia-reperfusion destabilizes rhythmicity in immature atrioventricular pacemakers: A predisposing factor for postoperative arrhythmias in neonate rabbits.

Background: Postoperative arrhythmias such as junctional ectopic tachycardia and atrioventricular block are serious postoperative complications for children with congenital heart disease. We hypothesize that ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) related changes exacerbate these postoperative arrhythmias in the neonate heart and administration of postoperative inotropes is contributory.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to study the effects of I/R and postischemic dopamine application on automaticity and rhythmicity in immature and mature pacemaker cells and whole heart preparations.

Phenotype-dependent role of the L-type calcium current in embryonic stem cell derived cardiomyocytes.

Although the L-type Ca(2+) current (ICa,L) plays an important role in cardiac contractility and pacemaking, its role in embryonic stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes (ESC-CMs) has not yet been explored in detail. We used patch-clamp techniques to characterize ICa,L, action potential properties, and nifedipine (an ICa,L blocker) sensitivity on spontaneously contracting embryoid bodies (EBs) or isolated ESC-CMs. Cellular preparations exhibited differential sensitivity to nifedipine, with substantial variation in the dose required to abolish automaticity.

Isolation and characterization of atrioventricular nodal cells from neonate rabbit heart.

Background: The properties of the atrioventricular (AV) node in the neonate heart and its role in unique pediatric cardiac arrhythmias such as junctional ectopic tachycardia (JET) are poorly understood. This is due in large part to the dearth of information on the structure and physiology of the AV node in the immature myocardium.

Methods And Results: Sinoatrial nodal cells (SANCs), AV nodal tissues, and myocytes (AVNCs) were obtained from neonatal (10-day-old) rabbits, and the histological, immunohistological, and electrophysiological properties were characterized in detail.

Distribution patterns of the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger and caveolin-3 in developing rabbit cardiomyocytes.

In adult cardiac cells the established mechanism of excitation-contraction coupling is by calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) mediated by L-type Ca(2+) channels. However, in neonate cardiomyocytes, a CICR modality involving reverse mode Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) activity predominates. This has been hypothesized to be due, in part, to the high expression levels of NCX in the neonate heart which drop several fold during ontogeny.

Three-dimensional distribution of cardiac Na+-Ca2+ exchanger and ryanodine receptor during development.

Mechanisms of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling in neonates are still not clearly defined. Previous work in neonates shows reverse-mode Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchange to be the primary route of Ca(2+) entry during systole and the neonatal sarcoplasmic reticulum to have similar capability as that of adult in storing and releasing Ca(2+). We investigated Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) and ryanodine receptor (RyR) distribution in developing ventricular myocytes using immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, and digital image analysis.

Epitope-dependent localization of estrogen receptor-alpha, but not -beta, in en face arterial endothelium.

Rapid, nongenomic effects of 17 beta-estradiol (E(2)) in endothelial cells are postulated to arise from membrane-associated estrogen receptors (ERs), which have not been visualized in vascular tissue. To identify membrane ERs, we used multiple site-directed ER alpha or ER beta antibodies to label en face rat cerebral and coronary arterial endothelia. Western blots revealed a novel 55-kDa ER alpha isoform.