Elsevier, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 2-3(115), p. 314-327, 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2014.08.006
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Living cardiac tissue slices, a pseudo two-dimensional (2D) preparation, have received less attention than isolated single cells, cell cultures, or Langendorff-perfused hearts in cardiac biophysics research. This is, in part, due to difficulties associated with sectioning cardiac tissue to obtain live slices. With moderate complexity, native cell-types, and well-preserved cell-cell electrical and mechanical interconnections, cardiac tissue slices have several advantages for studying cardiac electrophysiology. The trans-membrane potential (Vm) has, thus far, mainly been explored using multi-electrode arrays. Here, we combine tissue slices with optical mapping to monitor Vm and intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). This combination opens up the possibility of studying the effects of experimental interventions upon action potential (AP) and calcium transient (CaT) dynamics in 2D, and with relatively high spatio-temporal resolution.