Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Stem Cells Int. 2012;2012:462161. doi: 10.1155/2012/462161. Epub 2012 Nov 13.
Ion channels orchestrate directed flux of ions through membranes and are essential for a wide range of physiological processes including depolarization and repolarization of biomechanical activity of cells. Besides their electrophysiological functions in the heart, recent findings have demonstrated that ion channels also feature ion flux independent functions during heart development and morphogenesis. The zebrafish is a well-established animal model to decipher the genetics of cardiovascular development and disease of vertebrates. In large scale forward genetics screens, hundreds of mutant lines have been isolated with defects in cardiovascular structure and function. Detailed phenotyping of these lines and identification of the causative genetic defects revealed new insights into ion flux dependent and independent functions of various cardiac ion channels.
离子通道协调离子通过细胞膜的定向流动，对于包括细胞生物力学活动去极化和复极化在内的广泛生理过程至关重要。除了在心脏中的电生理学功能外，最近的研究结果表明，离子通道在心脏发育和形态发生过程中也具有离子流非依赖性功能。斑马鱼是一种成熟的动物模型，可用于解析脊椎动物心血管发育和疾病的遗传学。在大规模正向遗传学筛选中，已经分离出数百种具有心血管结构和功能缺陷的突变系。对这些系的详细表型分析和致病遗传缺陷的鉴定揭示了各种心脏离子通道的离子流依赖性和非依赖性功能的新见解。
