Controlling the complex spatio-temporal dynamics underlying life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias such as fibrillation is extremely difficult due to the nonlinear interaction of excitation waves within a heterogeneous anatomical substrate1–4. Lacking a better strategy, strong, globally resetting electrical shocks remain the only reliable treatment for cardiac fibrillation5–7. Here, we establish the relation between the response of the tissue to an electric field and the spatial distribution of heterogeneities of the scale-free coronary vascular structure. We show that in response to a pulsed electric field E, these heterogeneities serve as nucleation sites for the generation of intramural electrical waves with a source density ρ(E), and a characteristic time τ for tissue depolarization that obeys a power law τ∝Eα. These intramural wave sources permit targeting of electrical turbulence near the cores of the vortices of electrical activity that drive complex fibrillatory dynamics. We show in vitro that simultaneous and direct access to multiple vortex cores results in rapid synchronization of cardiac tissue and therefore efficient termination of fibrillation. Using this novel control strategy, we demonstrate, for the first time, low-energy termination of fibrillation in vivo. Our results give new insights into the mechanisms and dynamics underlying the control of spatio-temporal chaos in heterogeneous excitable media and at the same time provide new research perspectives towards alternative, life-saving low-energy defibrillation techniques.

Rationale:The cardiac sodium channel Na v 1.5 plays a key role in excitability and conduction. The 3 last residues of Na v 1.5 (Ser-Ile-Val) constitute a PDZ-domain binding motif that interacts with the syntrophin-dystrophin complex. As dystrophin is absent at the intercalated discs, Na v 1.5 could potentially interact with other, yet unknown, proteins at this site.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether Na v 1.5 is part of distinct regulatory complexes at lateral membranes and intercalated discs. Methods and Results:Immunostaining experiments demonstrated that Na v 1.5 localizes at lateral membranes of cardiomyocytes with dystrophin and syntrophin. Optical measurements on isolated dystrophin-deficient mdx hearts revealed significantly reduced conduction velocity, accompanied by strong reduction of Na v 1.5 at lateral membranes of mdx cardiomyocytes. Pull-down experiments revealed that the MAGUK protein SAP97 also interacts with the SIV motif of Na v 1.5, an interaction specific for SAP97 as no pull-down could be detected with other cardiac MAGUK proteins (PSD95 or ZO-1). Furthermore, immunostainings showed that Na v 1.5 and SAP97 are both localized at intercalated discs. Silencing of SAP97 expression in HEK293 and rat cardiomyocytes resulted in reduced sodium current (I Na ) measured by patch-clamp. The I Na generated by Na v 1.5 channels lacking the SIV motif was also reduced. Finally, surface expression of Na v 1.5 was decreased in silenced cells, as well as in cells transfected with SIV-truncated channels. Conclusions:These data support a model with at least 2 coexisting pools of Na v 1.5 channels in cardiomyocytes: one targeted at lateral membranes by the syntrophin-dystrophin complex, and one at intercalated discs by SAP97. (Circ Res. 2011;108:294-304.) Key Words: sodium channel Ⅲ Na v 1.5 Ⅲ MAGUK proteins Ⅲ SAP97 Ⅲ dystrophin T he cardiac sodium channel Na v 1.5 initiates the cardiac action potential, thus playing a key role in cardiac excitability and impulse propagation. The physiological importance of this channel is illustrated by numerous cardiac pathologies caused by hundreds of mutations identified in SCN5A, the gene encoding Na v 1.5. 1 The Na v 1.5 channel is composed of one 220-kDa ␣-subunit that constitutes a functional channel, and 30-kDa ␤-subunits. In addition to these accessory ␤-subunits, several proteins have been shown to regulate and interact with Na v 1.5. 1,2 In most cases, the physiological relevance of these interactions is poorly understood, mainly because of a lack of appropriate animal models. Many of the interacting proteins bind to the C terminus of Na v 1.5, where several protein-protein interaction motifs are located. 1,2 We have shown that the ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2 binds the PY motif of Na v 1.5 and reduces the sodium current (I Na ) in HEK293 cells by promoting its internalization. 3 We have also demonstrated that Na v 1.5 associates with the dystrophin-syntrophin multiprotein complex (DMC) in cardiac cells. 4 In dystrophin-deficient mice (m...

The self-organized dynamics of vortex-like rotating waves, which are also known as scroll waves, are the basis of the formation of complex spatiotemporal patterns in many excitable chemical and biological systems. In the heart, filament-like phase singularities that are associated with three-dimensional scroll waves are considered to be the organizing centres of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The mechanisms that underlie the onset, maintenance and control of electromechanical turbulence in the heart are inherently three-dimensional phenomena. However, it has not previously been possible to visualize the three-dimensional spatiotemporal dynamics of scroll waves inside cardiac tissues. Here we show that three-dimensional mechanical scroll waves and filament-like phase singularities can be observed deep inside the contracting heart wall using high-resolution four-dimensional ultrasound-based strain imaging. We found that mechanical phase singularities co-exist with electrical phase singularities during cardiac fibrillation. We investigated the dynamics of electrical and mechanical phase singularities by simultaneously measuring the membrane potential, intracellular calcium concentration and mechanical contractions of the heart. We show that cardiac fibrillation can be characterized using the three-dimensional spatiotemporal dynamics of mechanical phase singularities, which arise inside the fibrillating contracting ventricular wall. We demonstrate that electrical and mechanical phase singularities show complex interactions and we characterize their dynamics in terms of trajectories, topological charge and lifetime. We anticipate that our findings will provide novel perspectives for non-invasive diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications.