Quantitative Evaluation of Closed-Loop-Shaped Cardiomyocyte Network by Using Ring-Shaped Electrode

Abstract

Re-entry of excitation in the heart is one of the abnormal phenomena that causes lethal arrhythmia and is thought to be induced by the looped structure of the excitation conduction pathway. To evaluate the geometrical pattern dependence of electrophysiological results, we fabricated three models of cardiomyocyte networks and compared their beating frequencies (BFs), amplitudes of a depolarization peak, and field potential durations (FPDs). The set of different closed-loop-shaped network models from 3 to 8 mm in length showed the same BFs, amplitudes, and FPDs independent of their loop lengths, whereas the BFs and FPDs of 60 µm small clusters, and the FPDs of the 2 mm open-line-shaped network model were different from those of a closed-loop-shaped network model. These results indicate that the mm order larger size of clusters might create lower BFs, and the closed-loop-shaped model may generate longer FPDs. They also suggest the importance of spatial arrangement control of the cardoimyocyte community for reproducible measurement of electrophysiological properties of cardiomyocytes, especially control of the closed-loop formation, which might change the waveforms of FPDs depending on the difference in the geometry and conduction pathway of the cell network.