| Title | Optogenetics for in vivo cardiac pacing and resynchronization therapies |
| Author | Udi Nussinovitch 1,2 & Lior Gepstein 1,2 |
| Affiliation(s) | 1. The Sohnis Laboratory for Cardiac Electrophysiology and Regenerative Medicine, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion-Institute of
Technology, Haifa, Israel.
2. Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel. Correspondence should be addressed to L.G |
| Published | nature biotechnology June 2015; doi:10.1038/nbt.3268 |
| Keyword | Keywords: Optogenetics-LED-Blue, cardiac pacing, resynchronization, Heart, Optogenetics, in-vivo, myocardium |
| Snippet | |
| Abstract | Abnormalities in the specialized cardiac conduction system
may result in slow heart rate or mechanical dyssynchrony.
Here we apply optogenetics, widely used to modulate neuronal
excitability1–4, for cardiac pacing and resynchronization.
We used adeno-associated virus (AAV) 9 to express the
Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) transgene at one or more
ventricular sites in rats. This allowed optogenetic pacing of
the hearts at different beating frequencies with blue-light
illumination both in vivo and in isolated perfused hearts.
Optical mapping confirmed that the source of the new
pacemaker activity was the site of ChR2 transgene delivery.
Notably, diffuse illumination of hearts where the ChR2
transgene was delivered to several ventricular sites resulted
in electrical synchronization and significant shortening of
ventricular activation times. These findings highlight the
unique potential of optogenetics for cardiac pacing and
resynchronization therapies |
