This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Klauke, N. Articles by Cooper, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Klauke, N. Articles by Cooper, J.

Stimulation of Single Isolated Adult Ventricular Myocytes within a Low Volume Using a Planar Microelectrode Array

Norbert Klauke ^*, Godfrey L. Smith  and Jon Cooper ^*

^* Department of Electronics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; and Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Norbert Klauke, Oakfield Ave., University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LT, UK. Tel.: 44-141-339-2165; Fax: 44-141-339-4907; E-mail: norbert{at}elec.gla.ac.uk.

Microchannels (40-µm wide, 10-µm high, 10-mm long, 70-µm pitch) were patterned in the silicone elastomer, polydimethylsiloxane on a microscope coverslip base. Integrated within each microchamber were individually addressable stimulation electrodes (40-µm wide, 20-µm long, 100-nm thick) and a common central pseudo-reference electrode (60-µm wide, 500-µm long, 100-nm thick). Isolated rabbit ventricular myocytes were introduced into the chamber by micropipetting and subsequently capped with a layer of mineral oil, thus creating limited volumes of saline around individual myocytes that could be varied from 5 nL to 100 pL. Excitation contraction coupling was studied by monitoring myocyte shortening and intracellular Ca²⁺ transients (using Fluo-3 fluorescence) . The amplitude of stimulated myocyte shortening and Ca²⁺ transients remained constant for 90 min in the larger volume (5 nL) configuration, although the shortening (but not the Ca²⁺ transient) amplitude gradually decreased to 20% of control within 60 min in the low volume (100 pL) arrangement. These studies indicate a lower limit for the extracellular volume required to stimulate isolated adult cardiac myocytes. Whereas this arrangement could be used to create a screening assay for drugs, individual microchannels (100 pL) can also be used to study the effects of limited extracellular volume on the contractility of single cardiac myocytes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Klauke, G. L. Smith, and J. Cooper Extracellular Recordings of Field Potentials from Single Cardiomyocytes Biophys. J., October 1, 2006; 91(7): 2543 - 2551. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]