title: Self-organized pacemakers in a coupled reaction-diffusion-mechanics system.
abstract: Using a computational model of a coupled reaction-diffusion-mechanics system, we find that mechanical deformation can induce automatic pacemaking activity. Pacemaking is shown to occur after a single electrical or mechanical stimulus in an otherwise nonoscillatory medium. We study the mechanisms underpinning this effect and conditions for its existence. We show that self-organized pacemakers drift throughout the medium to approach attractors with locations that depend on the size of the medium, and on the location of the initial stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, Utrecht, 3584 CH, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Panfilov
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Keldermann
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Nash
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical