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Trayanova NA, Lyon A, Shade J, Heijman J. Computational modeling of cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmogenesis: toward clinical translation. Physiol Rev 2024; 104:1265-1333. [PMID: 38153307 PMCID: PMC11381036 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00017.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The complexity of cardiac electrophysiology, involving dynamic changes in numerous components across multiple spatial (from ion channel to organ) and temporal (from milliseconds to days) scales, makes an intuitive or empirical analysis of cardiac arrhythmogenesis challenging. Multiscale mechanistic computational models of cardiac electrophysiology provide precise control over individual parameters, and their reproducibility enables a thorough assessment of arrhythmia mechanisms. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of models of cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias, from the single cell to the organ level, and how they can be leveraged to better understand rhythm disorders in cardiac disease and to improve heart patient care. Key issues related to model development based on experimental data are discussed, and major families of human cardiomyocyte models and their applications are highlighted. An overview of organ-level computational modeling of cardiac electrophysiology and its clinical applications in personalized arrhythmia risk assessment and patient-specific therapy of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias is provided. The advancements presented here highlight how patient-specific computational models of the heart reconstructed from patient data have achieved success in predicting risk of sudden cardiac death and guiding optimal treatments of heart rhythm disorders. Finally, an outlook toward potential future advances, including the combination of mechanistic modeling and machine learning/artificial intelligence, is provided. As the field of cardiology is embarking on a journey toward precision medicine, personalized modeling of the heart is expected to become a key technology to guide pharmaceutical therapy, deployment of devices, and surgical interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia A Trayanova
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - Aurore Lyon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Division of Heart and Lungs, Department of Medical Physiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Julie Shade
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - Jordi Heijman
- Department of Cardiology, CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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Guo J, Jiang H, Schuftan D, Moreno JD, Ramahdita G, Aryan L, Bhagavan D, Silva J, Huebsch N. Substrate mechanics unveil early structural and functional pathology in iPSC micro-tissue models of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. iScience 2024; 27:109954. [PMID: 38827401 PMCID: PMC11141149 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), suggesting a potential role for mechanics in HCM pathogenesis. Here, we developed an in vitro physiological model to investigate how mechanics acts together with HCM-linked myosin binding protein C (MYBPC3) mutations to trigger disease. Micro-heart muscles (μHM) were engineered from induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes bearing MYBPC3+/- mutations and challenged to contract against substrates of different elasticity. μHMs that worked against substrates with stiffness at or exceeding the stiffness of healthy adult heart muscle exhibited several hallmarks of HCM, including cellular hypertrophy, impaired contractile energetics, and maladaptive calcium handling. Remarkably, we discovered changes in troponin C and T localization in MYBPC3+/- μHM that were entirely absent in 2D culture. Pharmacologic studies suggested that excessive Ca2+ intake through membrane-embedded channels underlie the observed electrophysiological abnormalities. These results illustrate the power of physiologically relevant engineered tissue models to study inherited disease with iPSC technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingxuan Guo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Huanzhu Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - David Schuftan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Jonathan D. Moreno
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Ghiska Ramahdita
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- NSF Science and Technology Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Lavanya Aryan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Druv Bhagavan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Jonathan Silva
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Nathaniel Huebsch
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- NSF Science and Technology Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Center for Investigation of Membrane Excitability Diseases, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA
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Coleman JA, Doste R, Beltrami M, Argirò A, Coppini R, Olivotto I, Raman B, Bueno-Orovio A. Effects of ranolazine on the arrhythmic substrate in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1379236. [PMID: 38659580 PMCID: PMC11039821 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1379236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a leading cause of lethal arrhythmias in the young. Although the arrhythmic substrate has been hypothesised to be amenable to late Na+ block with ranolazine, the specific mechanisms are not fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the substrate mechanisms of safety and antiarrhythmic efficacy of ranolazine in HCM. Methods: Computational models of human tissue and ventricles were used to simulate the electrophysiological behaviour of diseased HCM myocardium for variable degrees of repolarisation impairment, validated against in vitro and clinical recordings. S1-S2 pacing protocols were used to quantify arrhythmic risk in scenarios of (i) untreated HCM-remodelled myocardium and (ii) myocardium treated with 3µM, 6µM and 10µM ranolazine, for variable repolarisation heterogeneity sizes and pacing rates. ECGs were derived from biventricular simulations to identify ECG biomarkers linked to antiarrhythmic effects. Results: 10µM ranolazine given to models manifesting ventricular tachycardia (VT) at baseline led to a 40% reduction in number of VT episodes on pooled analysis of >40,000 re-entry inducibility simulations. Antiarrhythmic efficacy and safety were dependent on the degree of repolarisation impairment, with optimal benefit in models with maximum JTc interval <370 ms. Ranolazine increased risk of VT only in models with severe-extreme repolarisation impairment. Conclusion: Ranolazine efficacy and safety may be critically dependent upon the degree of repolarisation impairment in HCM. For moderate repolarisation impairment, reductions in refractoriness heterogeneity by ranolazine may prevent conduction blocks and re-entry. With severe-extreme disease substrates, reductions of the refractory period can increase re-entry sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Coleman
- Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ruben Doste
- Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Matteo Beltrami
- Cardiomyopathy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Alessia Argirò
- Cardiomyopathy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Raffaele Coppini
- Department of NeuroFarBa, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Iacopo Olivotto
- Cardiomyopathy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
- Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS, Florence, Italy
| | - Betty Raman
- Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research (OCMR), Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Coleman JA, Doste R, Beltrami M, Coppini R, Olivotto I, Raman B, Bueno-Orovio A. Electrophysiological mechanisms underlying T wave pseudonormalisation on stress ECGs in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Comput Biol Med 2024; 169:107829. [PMID: 38096763 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pseudonormal T waves may be detected on stress electrocardiograms (ECGs) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Either myocardial ischaemia or purely exercise-induced changes have been hypothesised to contribute to this phenomenon, but the precise electrophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. METHODS Computational models of human HCM ventricles (n = 20) with apical and asymmetric septal hypertrophy phenotypes with variable severities of repolarisation impairment were used to investigate the effects of acute myocardial ischaemia on ECGs with T wave inversions at baseline. Virtual 12-lead ECGs were derived from a total of 520 biventricular simulations, for cases with regionally ischaemic K+ accumulation in hypertrophied segments, global exercise-induced serum K+ increases, and/or increased pacing frequency, to analyse effects on ECG biomarkers including ST segments, T wave amplitudes, and QT intervals. RESULTS Regional ischaemic K+ accumulation had a greater impact on T wave pseudonormalisation than exercise-induced serum K+ increases, due to larger reductions in repolarisation gradients. Increases in serum K+ and pacing rate partially corrected T waves in some anatomical and electrophysiological phenotypes. T wave morphology was more sensitive than ST segment elevation to regional K+ increases, suggesting that T wave pseudonormalisation may sometimes be an early, or the only, ECG feature of myocardial ischaemia in HCM. CONCLUSIONS Ischaemia-induced T wave pseudonormalisation can occur on stress ECG testing in HCM before significant ST segment changes. Some anatomical and electrophysiological phenotypes may enable T wave pseudonormalisation due to exercise-induced increased serum K+ and pacing rate. Consideration of dynamic T wave abnormalities could improve the detection of myocardial ischaemia in HCM.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A Coleman
- Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ruben Doste
- Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Matteo Beltrami
- Cardiomyopathy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Raffaele Coppini
- Department of NeuroFarBa, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Iacopo Olivotto
- Cardiomyopathy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy; Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, Florence, Italy
| | - Betty Raman
- Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research (OCMR), Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Guo J, Jiang H, Schuftan D, Moreno JD, Ramahdita G, Aryan L, Bhagavan D, Silva J, Huebsch N. Mechanical Resistance to Micro-Heart Tissue Contractility unveils early Structural and Functional Pathology in iPSC Models of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.30.564856. [PMID: 37961198 PMCID: PMC10634965 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.30.564856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common cause of sudden death in the young. Because the disease exhibits variable penetrance, there are likely nongenetic factors that contribute to the manifestation of the disease phenotype. Clinically, hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with HCM, suggesting a potential synergistic role for the sarcomeric mutations associated with HCM and mechanical stress on the heart. We developed an in vitro physiological model to investigate how the afterload that the heart muscle works against during contraction acts together with HCM-linked MYBPC3 mutations to trigger a disease phenotype. Micro-heart muscle arrays (μHM) were engineered from iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes bearing MYBPC3 loss-of-function mutations and challenged to contract against mechanical resistance with substrates stiffnesses ranging from the of embryonic hearts (0.4 kPa) up to the stiffness of fibrotic adult hearts (114 kPa). Whereas MYBPC3 +/- iPSC-cardiomyocytes showed little signs of disease pathology in standard 2D culture, μHMs that included components of afterload revealed several hallmarks of HCM, including cellular hypertrophy, impaired contractile energetics, and maladaptive calcium handling. Remarkably, we discovered changes in troponin C and T localization in the MYBPC3 +/- μHM that were entirely absent in 2D culture. Pharmacologic studies suggested that excessive Ca 2+ intake through membrane-embedded channels, rather than sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ ATPase (SERCA) dysfunction or Ca 2+ buffering at myofilaments underlie the observed electrophysiological abnormalities. These results illustrate the power of physiologically relevant engineered tissue models to study inherited disease mechanisms with iPSC technology.
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