Background: The system of transverse and longitudinal sarcolemmal tubules (T-system) is observed to remodel in two cardiovascular conditions of increasing incidence: atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF). The relationship between these conditions, wherein patients with HF often develop AF, and vice versa, confounds this problem further. Dysfunctional calcium regulation, as a result of altered T-system morphology, has been suggested to underlie disruptions in excitation-contraction coupling, as well as an increase in the frequency of arrhythmic events at the cellular scale; however, these mechanisms and their importance remain to be fully described. Methods: A contemporary computational model describing rabbit atrial electrophysiology (Aslanidi, et al. 2009) was integrated with our novel model describing stochastic spatio-temporal Ca2+ dynamics (Colman et al. 2017). In isolation to other potential forms of atrial remodelling, morphological T-system remodelling associated with HF was simulated through removing sarcolemmal ion-channel currents from individual calcium release units (CRUs), either assigned randomly or in pre-defined regions of varying extent. Rapid pacing protocols were applied to induce Ca2+ transient alternans, and load the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum (SR) with Ca2+: the resulting statistics of spontaneous release events were analysed. Results: The model reproduced rabbit atrial action potential and Ca2+ transient morphology associated with healthy cardiac function. Variation in T-system density and organisation, in isolation, demonstrated an inverse correlation between T-system density and the susceptibility of spontaneous Ca2+ release events, determined by an interaction of localised SR Ca2+ loading and reduced efflux, promoting successful Ca2+ wave propagation. Lower T-system density also promotes Ca2+ alternans, by alternating successful and failed propagations of Ca2+ into regions without T-tubules. Conclusion: A novel model of rabbit atrial electrophysiology has been developed, that includes a stochastic spatio-temporal description of Ca2+ handling. Investigations using this model suggest that alterations in T-system morphology may play an important role in the predisposition of atrial myocytes to arrhythmic events in the presence of HF. The model presents a powerful research tool to explore how these cell-level phenomena manifest at the tissue level and result in arrhythmias.
Europhysiology 2018 (London, UK) (2018) Proc Physiol Soc 41, PCB055
Poster Communications: Investigating Ca2+ Mediated Arrhythmias in a Computational Model of Rabbit Atrial Myocytes
M. Holmes1, A. P. Benson1, O. Aslanidi2, M. A. Colman1
1. University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. 2. King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
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Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.