Mechanism of Arrhythmogenesis Driven by Early After Depolarizations in Cardiac Tissue.

ABSTRACT: Early-after depolarizations (EADs) are changes in the action potential plateau that can lead to cardiac arrhythmia. At the cellular level, these oscillations are irregular and change from beat to beat due to the sensitivity of voltage repolarization to subcellular stochastic processes. However, the behavior of EADs in tissue, where cells are strongly coupled by gap junctions, is less understood. In this study, we develop a computational model of EADs caused by a reduction in the rate of calcium-induced inactivation of the L-type calcium channel. We find that, as inactivation decreases EADs occur with durations varying randomly from beat to beat. In cardiac tissue, however, gap junction coupling between cells dampens these fluctuations, and it is unclear what dictates the formation of EADs.

SUBMITTER: Stein J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12047796 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature