Simultaneous mapping of membrane voltage and calcium in zebrafish heart in vivo reveals chamber-specific developmental transitions in ionic currents.

ABSTRACT: The cardiac action potential (AP) and the consequent cytosolic Ca(2+) transient are key indicators of cardiac function. Natural developmental processes, as well as many drugs and pathologies change the waveform, propagation, or variability (between cells or over time) of these parameters. Here we apply a genetically encoded dual-function calcium and voltage reporter (CaViar) to study the development of the zebrafish heart in vivo between 1.5 and 4 days post fertilization (dpf). We developed a high-sensitivity spinning disk confocal microscope and associated software for simultaneous three-dimensional optical mapping of voltage and calcium. We produced a transgenic zebrafish line expressing CaViar under control of the heart-specific cmlc2 promoter, and applied ion channel blockers at a seri

SUBMITTER: Hou JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4161048 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature