A new approach to target aberrant systolic calcium release and associated cardiac arrhythmias

Understanding the triggers for abnormal calcium release may enable novel anti-arrhythmic therapies to be developed.

Three-dimensional rendering of an electrically evoked calcium transient in a cardiac muscle cell. — Three-dimensional rendering of an electrically evoked calcium transient in a cardiac muscle cell (large peaks) followed by two spontaneous early afterdepolarizations. © Dr Ewan Fowler

Aims

The central aim of this project is to understand how pathological changes in calcium regulation in the heart can lead to arrhythmias and sudden death. We are investigating this question using:

transgenic mouse models of human heart disease
confocal calcium imaging and electrophysiology in isolated cardiac muscle cells (myocytes)
whole organ physiology (perfused heart)
in vivo functional measurements
in silico approaches

Funding

This project has received funding of £748,171 over 5 years from the British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Sciences Research Fellowship to Dr Ewan Fowler.