Finding tiny changes in the heart’s electrics that can stop it staying in rhythm.

Regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels by auxiliary alpha2delta subunits: Physiological implications in vascular smooth muscle cells

Irregular heart rhythms – called arrhythmias – can be life-threatening. They come in many forms with the most common type, atrial fibrillation, affecting more than a million people in the UK alone. Arrhythmias occur when there is a fault in the electrical system that controls the heartbeat. These researchers are investigating this system at the molecular level, to uncover how it goes wrong and how it could be fixed. The spread of electrical current around the heart occurs through the tightly-controlled flow of calcium ions across special channels. Via these channels, ions move into and out of calcium stores within each heart cell. The L-type calcium channel (LTCC) allows ions to leave the cell’s calcium store, and this triggers heart muscle contraction. Dr Kadurin and colleagues are studying in rodents how tiny changes in the LTCC structure can affect the function of the channel and lead to severe arrhythmias. By unpicking the minute details of each vital component in the heart’s electrical system, they aim to find ways to predict, prevent and treat dangerous arrhythmias.