Endogenous ionic currents and DC electric fields in multicellular animal tissues

Nuccitelli, Richard

doi:10.1002/bem.2250130714

Cited by 113 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(6 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One possibility is that parasitic cousins of C. elegans might use electrotaxis when navigating strong electric fields in host tissue. Electric fields within the range of C. elegans electrosensory behavior are commonly found in the organs of larger animals (Nuccitelli, 1992). It has been suggested that Trichinella spiralis, a nematode that preferentially infects skeletal muscles and exhibits electrotaxis in in vitro assays, might detect the difference between different muscle types based on electrosensory cues (Hughes and Harley, 1977).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Circuits Mediate Electrosensory Behavior inCaenorhabditis elegans

Gabel

Gabel²,

Pavlichin³

et al. 2007

J. Neurosci.

108

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans deliberately crawls toward the negative pole in an electric field. By quantifying the movements of individual worms navigating electric fields, we show that C. elegans prefers to crawl at specific angles to the direction of the electric field in persistent periods of forward movement and that the preferred angle is proportional to field strength. C. elegans reorients itself in response to time-varying electric fields by using sudden turns and reversals, standard reorientation maneuvers that C. elegans uses during other modes of motile behavior. Mutation or laser ablation that disrupts the structure and function of amphid sensory neurons also disrupts electrosensory behavior. By imaging intracellular calcium dynamics among the amphid sensory neurons of immobilized worms, we show that specific amphid sensory neurons are sensitive to the direction and strength of electric fields. We extend our analysis to the motor level by showing that specific interneurons affect the utilization of sudden turns and reversals during electrosensory steering. Thus, electrosensory behavior may be used as a model system for understanding how sensory inputs are transformed into motor outputs by the C. elegans nervous system.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Circuits Mediate Electrosensory Behavior inCaenorhabditis elegans

Gabel

Gabel²,

Pavlichin³

et al. 2007

J. Neurosci.

108

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Silicone spacers were used to create six wells between the two electrodes, containing one construct apiece. In the ''stimulated'' group, trains of electrical pulses (rectangular, 2 ms, 5 V͞cm, 1 Hz) that are characteristic for native myocardium (12) and previously used for cell monolayers (13) were applied continuously for an additional 5 days. Constructs cultured without electrical stimulation under otherwise identical conditions served as ''nonstimulated'' controls.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ultrastructure was evaluated by morphometric analysis of trans-mission electron microscopy images. Contractile activity in response to electrical field stimulation was measured by videomicroscopy (12). ET, the minimum voltage at which the entire construct was observed to beat, and the maximum capture rate, defined as the maximum pacing frequency for synchronous construct contractions, were determined.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional assembly of engineered myocardium by electrical stimulation of cardiac myocytes cultured on scaffolds

Radišić

Park²,

Shing³

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

816

784

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The major challenge of tissue engineering is directing the cells to establish the physiological structure and function of the tissue being replaced across different hierarchical scales. To engineer myocardium, biophysical regulation of the cells needs to recapitulate multiple signals present in the native heart. We hypothesized that excitation-contraction coupling, critical for the development and function of a normal heart, determines the development and function of engineered myocardium. To induce synchronous contractions of cultured cardiac constructs, we applied electrical signals designed to mimic those in the native heart. Over only 8 days in vitro, electrical field stimulation induced cell alignment and coupling, increased the amplitude of synchronous construct contractions by a factor of 7, and resulted in a remarkable level of ultrastructural organization. Development of conductive and contractile properties of cardiac constructs was concurrent, with strong dependence on the initiation and duration of electrical stimulation.contraction ͉ excitation ͉ tissue engineering ͉ ultrastructure ͉ heart

show abstract

“…The duration of culture and selection of field intensity was consistent with previous cardiac tissue engineering studies (5V/cm, [9]) and cardiomyocyte monolayer studies (2.6V/cm, [2,7]). The selected field strengths are within the order of magnitude of the fields that occur in vivo [43]. Most importantly, the selected field strengths were at (2.3V/cm) or above the excitation threshold (4.6V/cm) for our cultures (Table 1) to ensure synchronous cardiomyocyte contractions.…”

Section: Selection Of Topographical Cues Electrical Field Stimulatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of surface topography and pulsatile electrical field stimulation on orientation and elongation of fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes

Au¹,

Cheng²,

Chowdhury³

et al. 2007

Biomaterials

177

166

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In contractile tissues such as myocardium, functional properties are directly related to the cellular orientation and elongation. Thus, tissue engineering of functional cardiac patches critically depends on our understanding of the interaction between multiple guidance cues such as topographical, adhesive or electrical. The main objective of this study was to determine the interactive effects of contact guidance and electrical field stimulation on elongation and orientation of fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes, major cell populations of the myocardium. Polyvinyl surfaces were abraded using lapping paper with grain size 1 to 80μm, resulting in V-shaped abrasions with the average abrasion peak-to-peak width in the range from 3 to 13μm, and the average depth in the range from 140nm to 700nm (AFM). The surfaces with abrasions 13μm wide and 700nm deep, exhibited the strongest effect on neonatal rat cardiomyocyte elongation and orientation as well as statistically significant effect on orientation of fibroblasts, thus they were utilized for electrical field stimulation. Electrical field stimulation was performed using a regime of relevance for heart tissue in vivo as well as for cardiac tissue engineering. Stimulation (square pulses, 1ms duration, 1Hz, 2.3V/cm or 4.6V/cm) was initiated 24hr after cell seeding and maintained for additional 72hr. The cover slips were positioned between the carbon rod electrodes so that the abrasions were either parallel or perpendicular to the field lines. Non-abraded surfaces were utilized as controls. Field stimulation did not affect cell viability (live/dead staining). The presence of a well developed contractile apparatus in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (staining for cardiac Troponin I and actin filaments) was identified in the groups cultivated on abraded surfaces in the presence of field stimulation. Overall we observed that i) fibroblast and cardiomyocyte elongation on non-abraded surfaces was significantly enhanced by electrical field stimulation ii) electrical field stimulation promoted orientation of fibroblasts in the direction perpendicular to the field lines when the abrasions were also placed perpendicular to the field lines and iii) topographical cues were a significantly stronger determinant of cardiomyocyte orientation than the electrical field stimulation. The orientation and elongation response of cardiomyocytes was completely abolished by inhibition of actin polymerization (Cytochalasin D) and only partially by inhibition of phosphatidyl-inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway (LY294002).

show abstract

Endogenous ionic currents and DC electric fields in multicellular animal tissues

Cited by 113 publications

References 55 publications

Neural Circuits Mediate Electrosensory Behavior inCaenorhabditis elegans

Neural Circuits Mediate Electrosensory Behavior inCaenorhabditis elegans

Functional assembly of engineered myocardium by electrical stimulation of cardiac myocytes cultured on scaffolds

Interactive effects of surface topography and pulsatile electrical field stimulation on orientation and elongation of fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About