CVPR 03-25-14 08-09am Cardiac Ion Channels & Action Potentials - Beam Flashcards
In the heart, electrical activity…
- Generates repetitive firing in specialized “pacemaker” regions…… 2. Propagates w/in the myocardium and via specialized conductive pathways……3. Serves as a trigger for contraction of the myocardium.
Cardiac action potential trigger…
… increase in intracellular concentration of Ca2+ –> contraction of myocardium
Cardiac action potentials are initiated by…
…pacemaker cells, which slowly depolarize to threshold in the absence of extrinsic input.
Normally, heart rate is controlled by & modulated by …
… pacemaker cells in the SA node, which fire intrinsically at ~100/min…. Rate modulated by autonomic nervous system (slow to 60-80/min = parasympathetic tone)
SA node
a cluster of small, round & spindle-shaped cells that contain few myofilaments, that are spontaneously active (automaticity), and that will fire APs at a frequency of ~100/min (rhythmicity); innervated by both sympathetic & parasympathetic axons.
Parasympathetic innervations of SA node
Ongoing activity in parasympathetic axons (parasympathetic tone) typically slows the rate at which cells in the SA node fire to 60-80 action potentials/min.
Automaticity of SA node vs. Automaticity of other cells (AV, etc.)
Cells in AV node and other heart regions may have automaticity, but the frequency at which they would fire APs is lower (slower) than the frequency of discharge SA node cells….Consequently, the SA node dominantes the pacemaker frequency & the other cells are normally driven by the SA node’s APs (overdrive suppression)
Ectopic pacemakers
Under abnormal circumstances cells outside of the SA node that have spontaneous activity (especially cells in damaged regions of the myocardium) can take over initiation of the heartbeat from the SA node
Coordination of contraction – what must occur
B/c heart rate is controlled by electrical activity of the SA node, the propagation of this activity to other regions of the heart has to occur such that the two atria contract and relax in a coordinated fashion, that two ventricles contract and relax in a coordinated fashion, and that ventricular contraction occurs during atrial relaxation (and vice versa).
Coordination of contraction - how
- Gap junctions connecting individual myocytes provide for cell-to-cell propagation of action potentials w/in the atrial myocardium, as well as w/in the ventricular myocardium……. 2. Specialized conductive pathways, in which individual cells are also connected by gap junctions, conduct the AP from SA node to left atrium and to AV node.
Atrioventricular node (AV node)
A cluster of small cells located on the right side of the inter-atrial septum near the opening of the coronary sinus…. In normal heart, the only place where APs can spread from atria (SA node) to the ventricles; Elsewhere, myocardial cells in the atria are electrically insulated from those in the ventricles by an intervening layer of CT
Conducting from the AV node
Additional conducting pathways propagate the action potential to the left & right ventricles. Cells in these conducting pathways are relatively large in diameter, so that the APs propagate more rapidly through them than through typical myocardial cells (which are half the size)
Trigger for Contraction
In myocardium, AP lasts a few hundred ms & triggers a sustained contraction of about the same duration….APs in SA & AV nodes are somewhat briefer, but still much longer than the APs in skeletal muscle (only last ~1 ms)
Sodium current (INa)
Cardiac sodium channels (containing NaV1.5 as the principle subunit) are similar to sodium channels in neurons and skeletal muscle…..Depolarization causes them to activate rapidly and then inactivate (voltage-gated).
Calcium currents (ICa)
Properties of Ca2+ channels are mainly determined by the principle (CaV) subunit, which has a structure like that of the NaV subunit of voltage-gated sodium channels.
High voltage activated (HVA) Calcium Currents (ICa)
- L-type channels: CaV 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 ……2. Neuronal channels: CaV2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Low voltage activated (LVA) Calcium Channels
T-type channels: CaV3.1, 3.2, 3.3
L-type calcium channels containing CaV1.2
Predominant in ventricular & atrial myocardium and cells of SA & AV nodes and conductive pathways
L-type channels containing CaV1.3
Expressed alongside predominant Cav1.2 in SA nodal cells
L-type channels – activation & inactivation
Activate rapidly in response to depolarization & subsequently inactivate in a manner dependent both on voltage (voltage-dependent inactivation, VDI) and cytoplasmic calcium (calcium-dependent inactivation, CDI).
Locations of L-type channels (besides in the heart)
Expressed in smooth & skeletal muscle and in the nervous system.
L-type calcium currents (ICa-L) are blocked by…
Dihydropyridines (nifedipine, for example) —– used as anti-hypertensive agents
— I-CaL channels are called dihydropyridine receptors (DHPR)
HVA (High voltage activated) vs. LVA (Low voltage activated) channels
LVA (T-type channels) means they are activated by weaker depolarizations than those required for activation of HVA channels (L-type and Neuronal).
I-CaL type vs. I-CaT type channels - activation dependint on
I-CaL both voltage- & Ca2+- dependent…..I-CaT are only voltage-dependent
T-type channels location
Expressed in SA node & in nervous system
Potassium channels - subunits
Unlike Na+ & Ca2+ channels, the principle subunits of K+ channels assemble as tetramers. Multiple genes encode subunits of the tetrameric channels, and in some instances hetero-tetramerization may occur between these gene products.
Time-dependent potassium currents
IKto (Kv4.3 tetramer + KChiP2) ……AND…….. IKr (HERG tetramer + miRP1) ……AND….. IKs (KvLQT1 tetramer + mink)