A Computational Study of the Effects of Tachycardia-Induced Remodeling on Calcium Wave Propagation in Rabbit Atrial Myocytes

In atrial cardiomyocytes without a well-developed T-tubule system, calcium diffuses from the periphery toward the center creating a centripetal wave pattern. During atrial fibrillation, rapid activation of atrial myocytes induces complex remodeling in diffusion properties that result in failure of calcium to propagate in a fully regenerative manner toward the center; a phenomenon termed “calcium silencing.” This has been observed in rabbit atrial myocytes after exposure to prolonged rapid pacing. Although experimental studies have pointed to possible mechanisms underlying calcium silencing, their individual effects and relative importance remain largely unknown. In this study we used computational modeling of the rabbit atrial cardiomyocyte to query the individual and combined effects of the proposed mechanisms leading to calcium silencing and abnormal calcium wave propagation. We employed a population of models obtained from a newly developed model of the rabbit atrial myocyte with spatial representation of intracellular calcium handling. We selected parameters in the model that represent experimentally observed cellular remodeling which have been implicated in calcium silencing, and scaled their values in the population to match experimental observations. In particular, we changed the maximum conductances of ICaL, INCX, and INaK, RyR open probability, RyR density, Serca2a density, and calcium buffering strength. We incorporated remodeling in a population of 16 models by independently varying parameters that reproduce experimentally observed cellular remodeling, and quantified the resulting alterations in calcium dynamics and wave propagation patterns. The results show a strong effect of ICaL in driving calcium silencing, with INCX, INaK, and RyR density also resulting in calcium silencing in some models. Calcium alternans was observed in some models where INCX and Serca2a density had been changed. Simultaneously incorporating changes in all remodeled parameters resulted in calcium silencing in all models, indicating the predominant role of decreasing ICaL in the population phenotype.

A Novel Computational Model of the Rabbit Atrial Cardiomyocyte With Spatial Calcium Dynamics

Models of cardiac electrophysiology are widely used to supplement experimental results and to provide insight into mechanisms of cardiac function and pathology. The rabbit has been a particularly important animal model for studying mechanisms of atrial pathophysiology and atrial fibrillation, which has motivated the development of models for the rabbit atrial cardiomyocyte electrophysiology. Previously developed models include detailed representations of membrane currents and intracellular ionic concentrations, but these so-called “common-pool” models lack a spatially distributed description of the calcium handling system, which reflects the detailed ultrastructure likely found in cells in vivo. Because of the less well-developed T-tubular system in atrial compared to ventricular cardiomyocytes, spatial gradients in intracellular calcium concentrations may play a more significant role in atrial cardiomyocyte pathophysiology, rendering common-pool models less suitable for investigating underlying electrophysiological mechanisms. In this study, we developed a novel computational model of the rabbit atrial cardiomyocyte incorporating detailed compartmentalization of intracellular calcium dynamics, in addition to a description of membrane currents and intracellular processes. The spatial representation of calcium was based on dividing the intracellular space into eighteen different compartments in the transversal direction, each with separate systems for internal calcium storage and release, and tracking ionic fluxes between compartments in addition to the dynamics driven by membrane currents and calcium release. The model was parameterized employing a population-of-models approach using experimental data from different sources. The parameterization of this novel model resulted in a reduced population of models with inherent variability in calcium dynamics and electrophysiological properties, all of which fall within the range of observed experimental values. As such, the population of models may represent natural variability in cardiomyocyte electrophysiology or inherent uncertainty in the underlying experimental data. The ionic model population was also able to reproduce the U-shaped waveform observed in line-scans of triggered calcium waves in atrial cardiomyocytes, characteristic of the absence of T-tubules, resulting in a centripetal calcium wave due to subcellular calcium diffusion. This novel spatial model of the rabbit atrial cardiomyocyte can be used to integrate experimental findings, offering the potential to enhance our understanding of the pathophysiological role of calcium-handling abnormalities under diseased conditions, such as atrial fibrillation.