Abstract:

Electrophysiological modeling of cardiac tissue is commonly based on functional and structural properties measured in experiments. Our knowledge of these properties is incomplete, in particular their remodeling in disease. Here, we introduce a methodology for quantitative tissue characterization based on fluorescent labeling, three-dimensional scanning confocal microscopy, image processing and reconstruction of tissue micro-structure at sub-micrometer resolution. We applied this methodology to normal rabbit ventricular tissue and tissue from hearts with myocardial infarction. Our analysis revealed that the volume fraction of fibroblasts increased from 4.830.42% (meanstandard deviation) in normal tissue up to 6.510.38% in myocardium from infarcted hearts. The myocyte volume fraction decreased from 76.209.89% in normal to 73.488.02% adjacent to the infarct. Numerical field calculations on three-dimensional reconstructions of the extracellular space yielded an extracellular longitudinal conductivity of 0.2640.082 S/m with an anisotropy ratio of 2.0951.11 in normal tissue. Adjacent to the infarct, the longitudinal conductivity increased up to 0.4000.051 S/m, but the anisotropy ratio decreased to 1.2950.09. Our study indicates an increased density of gap junctions proximal to both fibroblasts and myocytes in infarcted versus normal tissue, supporting previous hypotheses of electrical coupling of fibroblasts and myocytes in infarcted hearts. We suggest that the presented methodology provides an important contribution to modeling normal and diseased tissue. Applications of the methodology include the clinical characterization of disease-associated remodeling. 1.

Abstract:

With scanning confocal microscopy we obtained three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of the transverse tubular system (t-system) of rabbit ventricular cells. We accomplished this by labeling the t-system with dextran linked to fluorescein or, alternatively, wheat-germ agglutinin conjugated to an Alexa fluor dye. Image processing and visualization techniques allowed us to reconstruct the t-system in three dimensions. In a myocyte lying flat on a coverslip, t-tubules typically progressed from its upper and lower surfaces. 3D reconstructions of the t-tubules also suggested that some of them progressed from the sides of the cell. The analysis of single t-tubules revealed novel morphological features. The average diameter of single t-tubules from six cells was estimated to 448172nm (mean SD, number of t-tubules 348, number of cross sections 5323). From reconstructions we were able to identify constrictions occurring every 1.871.09m along the principal axis of the tubule. The cross-sectional area of these constrictions was reduced to an average of 57.727.5% (number of constrictions 170) of the adjacent local maximal areas. Principal component analysis revealed flattening of t-tubular cross sections, confirming findings that we obtained from electron micrographs. Dextran- and wheat-germ agglutinin-associated signals were correlated in the t-system and are therefore equally good markers. The 3D structure of the t-system in rabbit ventricular myocytes seems to be less complex than that found in rat. Moreover, we found that t-tubules in rabbit have approximately twice the diameter of those in rat. We speculate that the constrictions (or regions between them) are sites of dyadic clefts and therefore can provide geometric markers for colocalizing dyadic proteins. In consideration of the resolution of the imaging system, we suggest that our methods permit us to obtain spatially resolved 3D reconstructions of the t-system in rabbit cells. We also propose that our methods allow us to characterize pathological defects of the t-system, e.g., its remodeling as a result of heart failure.

Abstract:

Award 2016: Best Abstract

Abstract:

Various types of heart disease are associated with structural remodeling of cardiac cells. In this work, we present a software framework for automated analyses of structures and protein distributions involved in excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac muscle cells (myocytes). The software framework was designed for processing sets of three-dimensional image stacks, which were created by fluorescent labeling and scanning confocal microscopy of ventricular myocytes from a rabbit infarction model. Design of the software framework reflected the large data volume of image stacks and their large number by selection of efficient and automated methods of digital image processing. Specifically, we selected methods with small user interaction and automated parameter identification by analysis of image stacks. We applied the software framework to exemplary data yielding quantitative information on the arrangement of cell membrane (sarcolemma), the density of ryanodine receptor clusters and their distance to the sarcolemma. We suggest that the presented software framework can be used to automatically quantify various aspects of cellular remodeling, which will provide insights in basic mechanisms of heart diseases and their modeling using computational approaches. Further applications of the developed approaches include clinical cardiological diagnosis and therapy planning.

Abstract:

We describe an approach to develop anatomical models of cardiac cells. The approach is based on confocal imaging of living ventricular myocytes with submicrometer resolution, digital image processing of three-dimensional stacks with high data volume, and generation of dense triangular surface meshes representing the sarcolemma including the transverse tubular system. The image processing includes methods for deconvolution, filtering and segmentation. We introduce and visualize models of the sarcolemma of whole ventricular myocytes and single transversal tubules. These models can be applied for computational studies of cell and sub-cellular physical behavior and physiology, in particular cell signaling. Furthermore, the approach is applicable for studying effects of cardiac development, aging and diseases, which are associated with changes of cell anatomy and protein distributions.

Abstract:

We introduce a framework to characterize and visualize the transverse tubular system of cardiac myocytes imaged with confocal microscopy. We imaged rabbit ventricular cells and cell segments with fluorescein linked to dextran. The image datasets were deconvolved with the Richardson-Lucy algorithm using the point spread function extracted from images of fluorescent beads. The transverse tubular system (t-system) was segmented with the methods of digital image processing. We reconstructed single transverse tubules and quantitatively described these in terms of length, cross-sectional area, ellipticity and orientation. These results should yield geometric markers for studies of protein distribution and provide insights into the function of the t-system.