Pacemaking in the heart: the interplay of ionic currents

Abstract

1. There is still a degree of controversy about which currents drive pacemaking in the sinoatrial node or sinus venosus. Early attempts to identify a single ‘pacemaker current’ in these tissues, based on voltage-clamp data, were largely unsuccessful, prompting the search for other mechanisms that may contribute to rhythmic activity. 2. Whole-cell patch-clamp recording from single cells isolated from the sinus venosus of the toad has shown that a voltage-dependent sodium current may play a role in pacemaking. This current has a transient component that contributes to the action potential upstroke and an inactivation-resistant component that contributes to the diastolic depolarization. The relative importance of this current in pacemaking is still controversial. 3. The development of computer models of pacemaking has contributed greatly to our understanding of how ionic currents can interact to produce rhythmic activity. Results are presented from one such model, ‘Oxsoft Heart', to illustrate the different contributions of If and INA and to highlight the concept that pace-making is driven by the integrated activity of many processes, rather than by any one current in particular. 4. Present models of pacemaking fail to accurately reproduce biological observations for certain situations. It is becoming clear that many processes contribute to pacemaking and have yet to be fully incorporated into models. Recent results regarding the role of intracellular calcium buffering and release and their implications, are discussed in this context. 5. The control of pacemaking by neurotransmitters is discussed. The limitations of single cell models in reproducing many of the complex responses to nerve stimulation of multicellular tissue, such as postinhibitory rebound, are discussed and possible improvements to models are suggested.