Cardiac Physiology Flashcards
When is the atrial pressure lowest and ventricular pressure highest?
ventricular systole
What happens when the ventricles contract and the Atrial-ventricular valves shut?
iso-volumic contraction
What happens during diastole?
Ventricle muscles relax –> ventricular pressure less than arterial –> forward-valves close –> iso-volumic relaxation –> pressure less than atria –> back valve opens –> atrial pressure fills up ventricles
What does S1 represent?
closing atrio-ventricular valves (tricuspid, mitral) = beginning of ventricular systole
What does S2 represent?
closing of ventricular-arterial valves (pulmonic, aortic) = beginning of diastole
What is physiological splitting?
Aortic and pulmonary valves do not close exactly at the same time (aortic first in normal)
What does pulmonary capillary wedge pressure estimate?
LAP - left atrial pressure (any other structures back to it)
What is the significance of PCWP?
PCWP is used to diagnose the severity of left ventricular failure and to quantify the degree of mitral valve stenosis (these elevate LAP)
What can a high LAP cause?
Pulmonary edema: increases in LAP are transmitted almost fully back to the pulmonary capillaries thereby increasing their hydrostatic pressure and filtration of fluid
Sarcomere is made of what two filaments?
thick and thin
Thick and thin filaments are made up of what?
myosin - thick
actin - thin
What are myofibrils?
bundle of sarcomere
What consists a muscle cells?
myofibrils, sarcoplasmic reticulum, T tubule system, mitochondria, and at least one nucleus
What is bead on a string?
actin molecules joined end on end
True or False: there are two beads on a string made of actin that wind around a tropomyosin molecule
True
Tropomyosin associates with what complex and what it made of?
Troponin complex, which is made of troponins I, T, C
True or False: under resting conditions tropomyosin blocks the myosin binding sites of the actin molecules
True
True or False: the troponin complex helps to destabilize the tropomyosin-actin complex
False: stabilises
troponin I binds to actin, troponin T binds to tropomyosin, troponin C binds to Ca
What is the composition of a myosin head?
two light chains, actin binding side, ATP binding site
What is a myosin filament?
300-400 myosin molecules held together by M-line proteins as well as the proteins nebulin and titin
Describe the cross-bridge cycle:
- depolarization of myocardial cell (and its plasma membrane and t-bubule system)
- Ca channels open in sarcoplasmic reticulum and t-tubules
- Ca enters cells and binds to troponin C changing the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex, and exposing the myosin-binding sites on actin
- myosin binds to actin creating a cross-bridge
- binding causes myosin head to bend and pull the actin filament as a result
- ADP and Pi released –> power stroke
- ATP binds to myosin head –> releases cross bridge
- ATP hydrolysed –> myosin head returns to resting conformation (ie. re-cocking)
- Ca is pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum by Ca-ATPase
What molecules are critical for muscle contraction?
Ca and ATP
What are the 3 main factors to muscle fiber shortening?
- Pre-load (amount of filling before ventricular contraction)
- After-load (amount resistant to emptying)
- Contractility
How does pre-load affect the muscle fiber shortening?
The amount in ventricles prior to systole determines the length of each muscle fiber (ie. the amount of actin-myosin overlap, ideally is 2.2 micron for each sarcomere)
How is pre-load determined?
By measuring end-diastolic volume/pressure
What is Titin?
elastic protein that anchors the large heavy chain of myosin filament to the Z line
What factors determine the Frank-Starling Curve?
1) Titin: stretching the sarcomere increases elastic recoil of titin and hence contraction (important at the ascending part of curve)
2) Troponin C: higher Ca increases affinity of Troponin C; stretch of sarcomere also increases the affinity (ie. length dependent activation)
3) Stretch: brings actin and myosin filaments closer together making easier for interaction
4) Intracellular Ca
What is the best measure of after-load?
the wall tension needed to ‘pop’ aortic valve open and get forward flow (ie. related to systemic resistance)
What 3 factors determine wall tension?
Pressure (biggest factor) in chamber
Radius = Size of chamber
Thickness of chamber wall
What is LePlace Law?
Tension is proportional to (P*R/t)
P = arterial pressure
R = heart size
t = thickness of heart wall