Mouse isolated perfused heart: Characteristics and cautions

Abstract

1. Owing to the considerable potential for manipulating the murine genome and, as a consequence, the increasing availability of genetically modified models of cardiovascular diseases, the mouse is fast becoming a cornerstone of animal research. However, progress in the use of various murine preparations is hampered by the lack of facilities and skills for the adequate physiological assessment of genetically modified mice. 2. We have attempted to address this problem by refining and characterizing a mouse isolated heart preparation that was originally developed for use with larger hearts. 3. We used the isolated buffer-perfused Langendorff preparation (perfused at constant flow or constant pressure) to characterize: (i) the frequency-response characteristics; (ii) heart isolation conditions; (iii) perfusion chamber conditions; (iv) temperature-function relationships; (v) stability over extended periods of perfusion; (vi) perfusate calcium-function relationships; (vii) pressure-volume relationships; (viii) pressure-rate relationships; and (ix) flow-function relationships.

Role of CaMKIIδ phosphorylation of the cardiac ryanodine receptor in the force frequency relationship and heart failure

“…Hearts from WT, RyR2-S2814A, and RyR2-S2808A (15) mice were isolated and allowed to equilibrate under retrograde perfusion using a Langendorff ex vivo preparation (16). The baseline pacing frequency was set at 400 beats/min, slightly greater than the average intrinsic heart rate of the isolated hearts, and was increased to 550 beats/min during the experiment.…”

“…To further explore the mechanism underlying the blunted FFR in the RyR2-S2814A mice we performed ex vivo experiments in which we measured heart rate-dependent contractility changes using Langendorff perfused hearts (16). Isolated murine hearts were paced from 400 beats/min to 550 beats/min or 700 beats/min.…”

Different roles of the cardiac Na+/Ca2+-exchanger in ouabain-induced inotropy, cell signaling, and hypertrophy

“…Male KO mice or Wt littermates (8 -12 wk old) were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (150 mg/kg ip) and heparinized (1,000 U/kg). The perfusion protocol was a modification of those we had used before for the rat heart (25,28) with adjustments specific to the use of the mouse heart (37). Briefly, hearts were rapidly removed and mounted on a nonrecirculating Langendorff apparatus and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit (KH) buffer containing (in mM) 118.0 NaCl, 4.0 KCl, 1.65 CaCl 2, 1.3 KH2PO4, 1.2 MgSO4, 0.3 ethylene glycol bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N=,N=-tetraacetic acid, 25 NaHCO 3, and 11 D-glucose.…”

American Thyroid Association Guide to Investigating Thyroid Hormone Economy and Action in Rodent and Cell Models

“…A fluidfilled PVC balloon is inserted into the LV cavity and attached to a pressure sensor and data acquisition system, allowing recording and manipulation of LV pressures and volumes. The method can be applied to assess the cardiac effects of thyroid hormone in both rat (552)(553)(554) and mouse models (555,556). An additional advantage of this heart model is that it allows analysis of the important effects of thyroid hormone on cardiac substrate metabolism and mitochondrial function (552,556,557).…”