Abstract
We report the potential for photocontrol of cardiac excitation ranging from the cellular to the tissue level using the photo-sensitive compound, azobenzene trimethyammonium bromide (AzoTAB). Cells and heart tissue were collected from rats & incubated with 0.1-0.5 mM AzoTAB. Under illumination with blue light (>440 nM) and in the thermally relaxed state, the trans-isomer of AzoTAB reversibly reduced the occurrence of spontaneous activity and decreased the speed of propagating waves in cardiac myocyte monolayers, to the point of complete suppression. Illumination of near-UV light (∼365 nm) changed the tertiary structure of AzoTAB to its cis-isomer form and restored monolayer excitability. In isolated atrial preparations, spontaneous activations were suppressed in the presence of AzoTAB. The activity returned after the tissue was illuminated with UV light. We conclude that AzoTAB mediated sensitization offers the potential for controlling cardiac excitation waves either uniformly or in a preferred spatial pattern. The combination of photocontrol with optical mapping techniques allows one to control and observe wave excitation patterns simultaneously without physical manipulation.
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