The pumping mechanism of embryonic hearts

Abstract

The embryonic heart starts pumping as a contractile tube. However its simple geometry there has been debate about how the early stage embryonic heart is actually functioning. The current model presented in Science 2006 describes it as a dynamic suction pump. According to this model the heart has one singe active contraction site, the remainder of the wall movement is through passive wall propagation. Our research however revealed more than one active contraction location. Moreover we showed that heart wall motion is closely following the calcium signal of the heart. These discoveries imply that the current model is not the correct representation of the working principle of the embryonic heart. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.