Integrated investigation of cardiac excitation propagation dynamics and arrhythmogenic mechanisms

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Establishment of Integrative Multi-level Systems Biology and its Applications
• Project/Area Number: 22136010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: HONJO Haruo 名古屋大学, 環境医学研究所, 准教授 (70262912)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KAMIYA Kaichiro 名古屋大学, 環境医学研究所, 教授 (50194873) ; SAKUMA Ichiro 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科, 教授 (50178597)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KODAMA Itsuo 名古屋大学, 名誉教授 (30124720) ; YAMAZAKI Masatoshi 名古屋大学, 環境医学研究所, 特任助教 (30627328)
• Research Collaborator: ARAFUNE Tatsuhiko 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科, 特任助教 (50376597)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 循環器内科学 / 心臓興奮伝播 / 不整脈 / 光学マッピング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cardiac impulse propagation is a multi-level biological phenomenon. High-resolution optical mapping revealed that dynamics of cardiac excitation wave propagation was determined by interactions between electrical activity of cardiomyocytes, intercellular communication and myocardial architecture. In the case of circulating excitation, curvature of the propagating excitation wavefront plays addition roles in impulse propagation. This rotating electrical activity i.e. spiral-wave reentry or rotor, underlies cardiac tachyarrhythmia including fibrillation and tachycardia: e.g. persistent atrial fibrillation is maintained by self-sustained 3-dimensional rotors with I-shaped filaments anchored to the atrial pectinate muscle border. Destabilization of the spiral-wave rotation center facilitated early termination of reentrant arrhythmia through collision with anatomical excitation boundaries.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学