Navigation Links
Bonn researchers use light to make the heart stumble
Date:10/4/2010

This release is available in German.

Tobias Brgmann and his colleagues from the University of Bonn's Institute of Physiology I used a so-called "channelrhodopsin" for their experiments, which is a type of light sensor. At the same time, it can act as an ion channel in the cell membrane. When stimulated with blue light, this channel opens, and positive ions flow into the cell. This causes a change in the cell membrane's pressure, which stimulates cardiac muscle cells to contract.

"We have genetically modified mice to make them express channelrhodopsin in the heart muscle," explains Professor Dr. Bernd Fleischmann of the Institute for Physiology I. "That allowed us to change the electric potential of the mouse heart at will, enabling us to selectively produce conditions such as arrhythmia of the atrium or the ventricle."

These types of arrhythmia - physicians also call them ventricular fibrillation - are among the most common causes of death after a heart attack. They develop when large quantities of cardiac cells die and are replaced with connective tissue. "This scar tissue has a different electrical activity than the healthy heart muscle," says the leader of the study, Professor Dr. Philipp Sasse. "And that makes the heart stumble."

But why is that so? Normally, electric impulses spread across the heart from a natural pacemaker. This happens in a temporally and spatially tightly controlled manner, creating a closely coordinated contraction. However, if entire muscle areas decouple electrically, this mechanism no longer works: all of a sudden, certain parts of the heart pulse at their own rhythm. This causes the blood flow to come to a near-standstill.

The scientists from Bonn can now trigger this decoupling through photostimulation. They can target just a few cells at a time or direct larger areas of the heart, allowing the
'/>"/>

Contact: Professor Dr. Philipp Sasse
philipp.sasse@uni-bonn.de
49-228-688-5212
University of Bonn
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Researchers engineer adult stem cells that do not age
2. OU researchers selected by Navy
3. Researchers find first genetic evidence for loss of teeth in the common ancestor of baleen whales
4. McLean Hospital researchers awarded $1.9 9 million grant for stem cell, blood research
5. WSU researchers taking sustainability of organic farming to new level
6. Purifying proteins: Rensselaer researchers use NMR to improve drug development
7. Smithsonian researchers find differences between Galapagos and mainland frigatebirds
8. Iowa State, Ames Lab researchers identify structure that allows bacteria to resist drugs
9. Vitamin C rapidly improves emotional state of acutely hospitalized patients, say LDI researchers
10. BUSM researchers to study vitamin D production in fat malabsorption patients
11. Cardiovascular Innovation Institute researchers receive over $2 million grant from NIH
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/24/2013)... In the search for medication against Alzheimer,s disease, scientists have ... break down Amyloid beta (A-beta). After all, it is the ... brains of Alzheimer,s patients. Starting point for the formation of ... were the first to unravel the function of APPL ... healthy fruit flies. , Alessia Soldano (VIB/KU Leuven): "We ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Northwest National Laboratory honored more than 165 staff ... property at PNNL,s annual Intellectual Property Commercialization Recognition ... of Energy national laboratory named materials scientist Jun ... developing battery materials that can store large amounts ... and reduce the time it takes to charge ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... of genomic DNA around nucleosomes in the cell ... team of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich now describes ... locally displaced from nucleosomes for transcription. , In ... the cell nucleus, wrapped around disk-shaped particles called ... different histone proteins and accommodating two loops of ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):A new strategy required in the search for Alzheimer's drugs? 2PNNL staff recognized for scientific accomplishments, moving technologies into the marketplace 2Biochemistry: Unspooling DNA from nucleosomal disks 2
... A new study has found that protein and not ... and burning calories. The research, published in the ... , has implications for understanding obesity and sleep disorders. ... which secrete a stimulant called orexin/hypocretin in the brain. ...
... that fuel is present in all vegetative matter that ... day grow their own fuel. Last year, global biofuel ... for 2.7% of the world,s transportation fuel. Bioethanol, a ... food crops such as corn and sugarcane. However, technologies ...
... extinction is a complicated task, especially for species that migrate ... Georgia and Tulane University have developed a mathematical model that ... the early online edition of the Royal Society journal ... lot of species, we don,t know very much about their ...
Cached Biology News:3 p.m. slump? Why a sugar rush may not be the answer 2Toward more cost-effective production of biofuels from plant lignocellulosic biomass 2New model more accurately describes migratory animals' extinction risk 2
(Date:5/24/2013)... 2013 The Oklahoma tornado left ... ravage, the mayor of Moore, one of the heavily damaged ... a report from cnn.com. Reaching out to also be of ... and Safe Shield to counter the looming mold problem. , ... May 22, 2013, caused 24 deaths, My Cleaning Products shared. ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 2013 Venaxis, Inc. (Nasdaq:   APPY), an ... FDA clearance and commercializing its rapid, protein biomarker-based appendicitis ... an underwritten public offering of 10,000,000 shares of its ... of its common stock at an exercise price of ... of $1.25 per share and related warrant.  Venaxis has ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... PuraMed BioScience ® , Inc., (OTCBB: ... (OTC) medicinal and healthcare products, announced that Ludlow ... based on low market capitalization valuation. ... Product to Treat Migraine Headaches , Clinical ... , Currently Available Nationwide at Walgreen,s and ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 23, 2013  Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in ... first hospital on the West Coast to perform a ... option provides women with a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive approach ... Winter , M.D., a highly regarded ... director of minimally invasive surgery at Saddleback Memorial, led ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Mayor of Oklahoma-Tornado-Impaired Town Proposes Storm Shelter Bill, My Cleaning Products Offers Complimentary Molderizer and Safe Shield to Help Victim with Looming Mold 2Venaxis Announces Pricing of Offering of Common Stock and Warrants 2Venaxis Announces Pricing of Offering of Common Stock and Warrants 3PuraMed BioScience (PMBS) Issued Alert Based on Market Cap of $721,756 2PuraMed BioScience (PMBS) Issued Alert Based on Market Cap of $721,756 3Saddleback Memorial Surgeon First on the West Coast to Perform Single-Site Robotic Hysterectomy 2Saddleback Memorial Surgeon First on the West Coast to Perform Single-Site Robotic Hysterectomy 3
... Pier Pharmaceuticals Inc.(formerly known as Steady Sleep Rx ... treatment of sleep related breathing disorders (SRBDs), announced today ... CEO & President and his election to the Board ... Letendre will be responsible for spearheading the clinical, regulatory, ...
... Nanotecnologia (ICN), in Barcelona, has demonstrated a device that induces ... in developing the spin computers of the future. The results ... Science. The authors are Marius V. Costache and Sergio O. ... and Engineering of Nanodevices Group at ICN. Spintronics is ...
... 2010 The new biotechnology curriculum at Bunker Hill ... state to win a Silver endorsement from the new ... the College,s program acknowledges that it is successfully training ... state to keep a competitive edge. To ...
Cached Biology Technology:Pier Pharmaceuticals Names Peter Letendre as Chief Executive Officer, President and Director 2A 'spin ratchet': A new electronic structure for generating spin current 2Bunker Hill Community College Wins Major Endorsement for Biotechnology Courses 2
Mouse monoclonal antibody raised against a full length recombinant SLC25A11. NCBI Entrez Gene ID = SLC25A11...
... raised against a partial recombinant ... TOPORS (NP_005793, 98 a.a. ... protein with GST tag. ... NM_005802 Protein ...
Mouse monoclonal antibody raised against a full length recombinant SNAPC5. NCBI Entrez Gene ID = SNAPC5...
... antibody raised against a partial recombinant NFKBIB. ... ~ 145 a.a) partial recombinant protein with GST ... Accession: BC015528 ... OMIM: 604495, GeneID: ...
Biology Products: