Dataset Information

RyR-NCX-SERCA local cross-talk ensures pacemaker cell function at rest and during the fight-or-flight reflex.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

A recent study published in Circulation Research by Gao et al used sinoatrial node (SAN)-targeted, incomplete Ncx1 knockout in mice to explore the role of the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) in cardiac pacemaker. The authors concluded that NCX is required for increasing sinus rates, but not for maintaining resting heart rate. This conclusion was based, in part, on numeric model simulations performed by Gao et al that reproduced their experimental results of unchanged action potentials in the knockout SAN cells. The authors, however, did not simulate the NCX current (INCX), that is, the subject of the study.