Center for Cardiovascular and Regenerative Biology, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, 2 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA.
Center for Cardiovascular and Regenerative Biology, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, 2 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA.
FEBS Lett. 2014 Apr 17;588(8):1244-8. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2014.01.026. Epub 2014 Jan 28.
Cardiac conduction is the process by which electrical excitation is communicated from cell to cell within the heart, triggering synchronous contraction of the myocardium. The role of conduction defects in precipitating life-threatening arrhythmias in various disease states has spurred scientific interest in the phenomenon. While the understanding of conduction has evolved greatly over the last century, the process has largely been thought to occur via movement of charge between cells via gap junctions. However, it has long been hypothesized that electrical coupling between cardiac myocytes could also occur ephaptically, without direct transfer of ions between cells. This review will focus on recent insights into cardiac myocyte intercalated disk ultrastructure and their implications for conduction research, particularly the ephaptic coupling hypothesis.
心脏传导是指电兴奋在心脏内细胞间传递的过程，从而引发心肌的同步收缩。传导缺陷在各种疾病状态下引发危及生命的心律失常的作用激发了科学界对这一现象的兴趣。尽管在过去的一个世纪中，对传导的理解有了很大的发展，但人们普遍认为这个过程主要是通过细胞间的缝隙连接来实现电荷在细胞间的传递。然而，长期以来人们一直假设，心肌细胞之间的电偶联也可以通过缝隙连接发生，而不需要细胞间离子的直接传递。本综述将重点介绍最近对心肌细胞闰盘超微结构的深入了解及其对传导研究的意义，特别是缝隙连接偶联假说。
