Geometric understanding of local fluctuation distribution of conduction time in lined-up cardiomyocyte network in agarose-microfabrication multi-electrode measurement assay

Abstract

We examined characteristics of the propagation of conduction in width-controlled cardiomyocyte cell networks for understanding the contribution of the geometrical arrangement of cardiomyocytes for their local fluctuation distribution. We tracked a series of extracellular field potentials of linearly lined-up human embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived cardiomyocytes and mouse primary cardiomyocytes with 100 kHz sampling intervals of multi-electrodes signal acquisitions and an agarose microfabrication technology to localize the cardiomyocyte geometries in the lined-up cell networks with 100–300 µm wide agarose microstructures. Conduction time between two neighbor microelectrodes (300 µm) showed Gaussian distribution. However, the distributions maintained their form regardless of its propagation distances up to 1.5 mm, meaning propagation diffusion did not occur. In contrast, when Quinidine was applied, the propagation time distributions were increased as the faster firing regulation simulation predicted. The results indicate the “faster firing regulation” is not sufficient to explain the conservation of the propagation time distribution in cardiomyocyte networks but should be expanded with a kind of community effect of cell networks, such as the lower fluctuation regulation.