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Cestariolo L, Luraghi G, L'Eplattenier P, Rodriguez Matas JF. A finite element model of the embryonic zebrafish heart electrophysiology. COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE 2023; 229:107281. [PMID: 36470034 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2022.107281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE In the last 30 years, a growing interest has involved the study of zebrafish thanks to its physiological characteristics similar to those of humans. The aim of the following work is to create an electrophysiological computational model of the zebrafish heart and lay the foundation for the development of an in-silico model of the zebrafish heart that will allow to study the correlation between pathologies and drug administration with the main electrophysiological parameters as the ECG signal. METHODS The model considers a whole body and the two chambers of three days post fertilization (3 dpf) zebrafish. A four-variable phenomenological action potential model describes the action potential of different heart regions. Tissue conductivity was calibrated to reproduce the experimentally described activation sequence. RESULTS The model is able to correctly reproduce the activation sequence and times found in literature, with activation of the atrium and ventricle that correspond to 36 and 59 ms, respectively, and a delay of 14 ms caused by the presence of the atrioventricular band (AV band). Moreover, the obtained in-silico ECG reflects the main characteristics of the zebrafish ECG in good agreement with experimental records, a P-wave with a duration of approximately the total atrial activation, followed by a QRS complex of approximately 109 ms corresponding to ventricle activation. CONCLUSIONS The model allows the assessment of the main electrophysiological parameters in terms of activation sequence and timing, reproducing monopolar and bipolar ECG signals in line with experimental data. Coupling the proposed model with an electrophysiological detailed action potential model of zebrafish will represent a significant breakthrough toward the development of an in-silico zebrafish heart.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovica Cestariolo
- Laboratory of Biological Structure Mechanics (LaBS), Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
| | - Giulia Luraghi
- Laboratory of Biological Structure Mechanics (LaBS), Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
| | | | - Jose Felix Rodriguez Matas
- Laboratory of Biological Structure Mechanics (LaBS), Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
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Yang NJ, Liu YR, Tang ZS, Duan JA, Yan YF, Song ZX, Wang MG, Zhang YR, Chang BJ, Zhao ML, Zhao YT. Poria cum Radix Pini Rescues Barium Chloride-Induced Arrhythmia by Regulating the cGMP-PKG Signalling Pathway Involving ADORA1 in Zebrafish. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:688746. [PMID: 34393777 PMCID: PMC8360851 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.688746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The traditional Chinese medicine Poria cum Radix Pini (PRP) is a fungal medicinal material that has been proven to play an important role in the treatment of arrhythmia. However, the mechanism of its effect on arrhythmia is still unclear. In this study, network pharmacology and metabolomics correlation analysis methods were used to determine the key targets, metabolites and potential pathways involved in the effects of PRP on arrhythmia. The results showed that PRP can significantly improve cardiac congestion, shorten the SV-BA interval and reduce the apoptosis of myocardial cells induced by barium chloride in zebrafish. By upregulating the expression of the ADORA1 protein and the levels of adenosine and cGMP metabolites in the cGMP-PKG signalling pathway, PRP can participate in ameliorating arrhythmia. Therefore, we believe that PRP shows great potential for the treatment of arrhythmia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ning-Juan Yang
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Yan-Ru Liu
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Zhi-Shu Tang
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Jin-Ao Duan
- Key Laboratory for High Technology Research of TCM Formulae and Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Ya-Feng Yan
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Zhong-Xing Song
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | | | - Yu-Ru Zhang
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Bai-Jin Chang
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China.,Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
| | - Meng-Li Zhao
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
| | - Yan-Ting Zhao
- Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Chinese Medicine Foundation Research, Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China
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Echeazarra L, Hortigón-Vinagre MP, Casis O, Gallego M. Adult and Developing Zebrafish as Suitable Models for Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pathology in Research and Industry. Front Physiol 2021; 11:607860. [PMID: 33519514 PMCID: PMC7838705 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.607860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The electrophysiological behavior of the zebrafish heart is very similar to that of the human heart. In fact, most of the genes that codify the channels and regulatory proteins required for human cardiac function have their orthologs in the zebrafish. The high fecundity, small size, and easy handling make the zebrafish embryos/larvae an interesting candidate to perform whole animal experiments within a plate, offering a reliable and low-cost alternative to replace rodents and larger mammals for the study of cardiac physiology and pathology. The employment of zebrafish embryos/larvae has widened from basic science to industry, being of particular interest for pharmacology studies, since the zebrafish embryo/larva is able to recapitulate a complete and integrated view of cardiac physiology, missed in cell culture. As in the human heart, IKr is the dominant repolarizing current and it is functional as early as 48 h post fertilization. Finally, genome editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 facilitate the humanization of zebrafish embryos/larvae. These techniques allow one to replace zebrafish genes by their human orthologs, making humanized zebrafish embryos/larvae the most promising in vitro model, since it allows the recreation of human-organ-like environment, which is especially necessary in cardiac studies due to the implication of dynamic factors, electrical communication, and the paracrine signals in cardiac function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leyre Echeazarra
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | - Maria Pura Hortigón-Vinagre
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética>, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - Oscar Casis
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | - Mónica Gallego
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
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Yan J, Li H, Bu H, Jiao K, Zhang AX, Le T, Cao H, Li Y, Ding Y, Xu X. Aging-associated sinus arrest and sick sinus syndrome in adult zebrafish. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232457. [PMID: 32401822 PMCID: PMC7219707 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Because of its powerful genetics, the adult zebrafish has been increasingly used for studying cardiovascular diseases. Considering its heart rate of ~100 beats per minute at ambient temperature, which is very close to human, we assessed the use of this vertebrate animal for modeling heart rhythm disorders such as sinus arrest (SA) and sick sinus syndrome (SSS). We firstly optimized a protocol to measure electrocardiogram in adult zebrafish. We determined the location of the probes, implemented an open-chest microsurgery procedure, measured the effects of temperature, and determined appropriate anesthesia dose and time. We then proposed an PP interval of more than 1.5 seconds as an arbitrary criterion to define an SA episode in an adult fish at ambient temperature, based on comparison between the current definition of an SA episode in humans and our studies of candidate SA episodes in aged wild-type fish and Tg(SCN5A-D1275N) fish (a fish model for inherited SSS). With this criterion, a subpopulation of about 5% wild-type fish can be considered to have SA episodes, and this percentage significantly increases to about 25% in 3-year-old fish. In response to atropine, this subpopulation has both common SSS phenotypic traits that are shared with the Tg(SCN5A-D1275N) model, such as bradycardia; and unique SSS phenotypic traits, such as increased QRS/P ratio and chronotropic incompetence. In summary, this study defined baseline SA and SSS in adult zebrafish and underscored use of the zebrafish as an alternative model to study aging-associated SSS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianhua Yan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Division of Cardiology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated To Shanghai Jiaotong University School Of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongsong Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Haisong Bu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Kunli Jiao
- Division of Cardiology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated To Shanghai Jiaotong University School Of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Alex X. Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Tai Le
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, UC Irvine, Irvine, California
| | - Hung Cao
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, UC Irvine, Irvine, California
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine, Irvine, California
| | - Yigang Li
- Division of Cardiology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated To Shanghai Jiaotong University School Of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yonghe Ding
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Xiaolei Xu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
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Qian S, Tarte E. Finite element modelling of discontinuous action potential propagation in larval zebrafish and human cardiac tissue. Phys Biol 2019; 17:016001. [PMID: 31610528 DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/ab4d62] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Recently the larval zebrafish has emerged as a model organism which is used to assist in the studies of human cardiac electrophysiology. Although they share many similar electrophysiological characteristics, it has been found that the conduction velocity (CV) of action potential (AP) propagation in larval zebrafish heart is up to two orders of magnitude smaller than in the adult mammalian heart. To address this difference, we have developed three dimensional discrete models of larval zebrafish ventricular fibres (LZVF) in order to simulate AP propagation, taking into account the cellular nature of the tissues and intercellular conduction via gap junctions. Since our ultimate goal is to simulate a whole larval zebrafish heart, we have used the phenomenological Fitzhugh Nagumo (FHN) equations to describe transmembrane currents, and manually adjusted the FHN parameters, to fit published AP shapes for larval zebrafish ventricular cells. This has the benefit of reduced computational load compared to approaches based on biophysical ion current models. We have created models for 48 and 72 h post fertilisation LZVF tissue using published AP and cell size data for zebrafish embryos and used mammalian values for passive electrical parameters. Using the gap junction resistivity per myocyte as an adjustable parameter, we were able to obtain CVs in both of our LZVF models which agree with experimental observations. In order to validate our approach, we have applied it to a human ventricular fibre (HVF) model similar in structure and parameters to other models of the mammalian heart, but adjusting the FHN parameters to fit published AP shapes for human ventricular cells. We find good agreement with the human models. The gap junction resistivities used in the LZVF models are significantly higher than in the HVF case and are consistent with a lower density of gap junctions connecting cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Qian
- School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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