Arrhythmogenic effects of mutated L-type Ca 2+-channels on an optogenetically paced muscular pump in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Cardiac arrhythmias are often associated with mutations in ion channels or other proteins. To enable drug development for distinct arrhythmias, model systems are required that allow implementing patient-specific mutations. We assessed a muscular pump in Caenorhabditis elegans. The pharynx utilizes homologues of most of the ion channels, pumps and transporters defining human cardiac physiology. To yield precise rhythmicity, we optically paced the pharynx using channelrhodopsin-2. We assessed pharynx pumping by extracellular recordings (electropharyngeograms--EPGs), and by a novel video-microscopy based method we developed, which allows analyzing multiple animals simultaneously. Mutations in the L-type VGCC (voltage-gated Ca(2+)-channel) EGL-19 caused prolonged pump duration, as found for an

SUBMITTER: Schuler C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585839 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature