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Acta Physiologica Congress

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Acta Physiologica 2011; Volume 203, Supplement 688
The 62nd National Congress of the Italian Physiological Society
9/25/2011-9/27/2011
Sorrento, Italy


A THREE-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH TO VISUALIZE DYNAMICAL PROPERTIES OF CARDIAC VENTRICULAR ACTION POTENTIAL REPOLARIZATION
Abstract number: P43

ZANIBONI1 M

1Dipartimento di Biologia Evolutiva e Funzionale, Sezione Fisiologia, Univ. degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy

The action potential (AP) of excitable cells consists in a rapid depolarization (and a transient inversion of polarity) of their membrane potential (Vm) which then, more slowly, recovers its resting value. AP is therefore graphically represented as a function of a single variable Vm (t). The morphology of AP waveform assumes a particular significance for the cardiac working cells, where it triggers and modulates excitation-contraction coupling. I describe here a novel compact three-dimensional representation of cardiac membrane excitation, measured by means of a combined current-voltage clamp protocol, where the third dimension is given by instantaneous membrane current (Im)-Vm profiles, taken as repolarization proceeds. These three coordinates (t, Vm, Im) describe a surface which intersects the Im = 0 plane along the AP trajectory. I have previously performed measurements of this type in vivo, and adopt them here iteratively at a very high t, Vm, Im-resolution on different cardiac ventricular AP mathematical models. These 3D t-Vm-Im surfaces provide a direct and compact representation of several key features of cardiac membrane repolarization, which include: refractory period, supernormal excitability, all-or-nothing repolarization window. They also provide a unique tool to visualize and measure membrane resistance during repolarization, as well as the amount of repolarization reserve available for a given cell type. A further, and perhaps the more important, feature of this novel computational/graphical method is the possibility of discriminating between very similar or even identical AP waveforms, endowed though with quite different dynamical properties.

To cite this abstract, please use the following information:
Acta Physiologica 2011; Volume 203, Supplement 688 :P43

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