Bursting calcium rotors in cultured cardiac myocyte monolayers.
Rotating waves (rotors) of cellular activity were observed in nonconfluent cultures of embryonic chick heart cells by using a macroscopic imaging system that detected fluorescence from intracellular Ca2+. Unlike previous observations of rotors or spiral waves in other systems, the rotors did not persist but exhibited a repetitive pattern of spontaneous onset and offset leading to a bursting rhythm. Similar dynamics were observed in a cellular automaton model of excitable media that incorporates spontaneous initiation of activity, and a decrease of excitability as a consequence of rapid activity (fatigue). These results provide a mechanism for bursting dynamics in normal and pathological biological processes.
Department of Physiology, McGill University, 3655 Drummond Street, Montreal, QC Canada, H3G 1Y6.
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D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D005453:Fluorescence; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D017136:Ion Transport; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010507:Periodicity
D002118:Calcium