August 2015

Optogenetic tools for identifying and regulating biological processes in living cells are currently under development. The continuous beating of the heart makes it difficult to evaluate the electrical activity of the heart by optical methods. Through the stable genetic integration of a fluorescence voltage sensor protein (VSFP2.3) with cardiac myocyte-specific expression and the application of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) methods we have, for the first time, successfully analyzed the electrical activity of cardiac myocytes, both in culture and in the freely beating heart, using high-resolution camera systems and fiber optic cables without the need for fluorescent dye. Apart from its application in mice, an experimental simulation demonstrated that our approach can also be applied in humans. Due to the specific localization of the voltage sensor in the cell membrane, it is also possible to carry out detailed structural and functional analyses in acute and chronic experiments. Our study demonstrates for the first time that the development of cardiac muscle cells and cardiac function can be evaluated using minimally invasive optical cardiograms and high-resolution imaging.

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Press release