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Micro-Electrocardiograms to Study Post-Ventricular Amputation of Zebrafish Heart

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Abstract

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an emerging model for cardiovascular research. The zebrafish heart regenerates after 20% ventricular amputation. However, assessment of the physiological responses during heart regeneration has been hampered by the small size of the heart and the necessity of conducting experiments in an aqueous environment. We developed a methodology to monitor a real-time surface electrocardiogram (ECG) by the use of micro-electrodes, signal amplification, and a low pass-filter at a sampling rate of 1 kHz. Wavelet transform was used to further remove ambient noises. Rather than paralyzing the fish, we performed mild sedation by placing the fish in a water bath mixed with MS-222 (tricane methanesulfonate). We recorded distinct P waves for atrial contraction, QRS complexes for ventricular depolarization, and QT intervals for ventricular repolarization prior to, and 2 and 4 days post-amputation (dpa). Sedation reduced the mean fish heart rate from 149 ± 18 to 90 ± 17 beats/min. The PR and QRS intervals remained unchanged in response to ventricular apical amputation (n = 6, p > 0.05). Corrected QT intervals (QTc) were shortened 4 dpa (n = 6, p < 0.05). In a parallel study, histology revealed that apical thrombi were replaced with fibrin clots and collagen fibers. Atrial arrhythmia was noted in response to prolonged sedation. Unlike the human counterpart, ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation was not observed in response to ventricular amputation 2 and 4 dpa. Taken together, we demonstrated a minimally invasive methodology to monitor zebrafish heart function, electrical activities, and regeneration in real-time.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express gratitude to Calum MacRae from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School for his advice on zebrafish ECG measurement. This project was supported by USC Zumberge Interdisciplinary Research Award (TKH), and NHLB 083015 (TKA), NHLBI 068689 (TKH), and AHA GIA 0655051Y (TKH), AHA Science Development Award (CLL).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ping Sun, Fei Yu, Elizabeth Parks, Althea Lyman, Lisong Ai, Chang-Hong Hu, Qifa Zhou, Kirk Shung & Tzung K. Hsiai

  2. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Southern California and Saban Research Institute, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Yolanda Zhang, Qiong Wu & Ching-Ling Lien

  3. Department of Physics Science and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Ping Sun

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  1. Ping Sun
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  2. Yolanda Zhang
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  3. Fei Yu
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  4. Elizabeth Parks
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  11. Ching-Ling Lien
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  12. Tzung K. Hsiai
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Correspondence to Tzung K. Hsiai.

Additional information

P. Sun, Y. Zhang, and F. Yu contributed equally to this work.

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Sun, P., Zhang, Y., Yu, F. et al. Micro-Electrocardiograms to Study Post-Ventricular Amputation of Zebrafish Heart. Ann Biomed Eng 37, 890–901 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-009-9668-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-009-9668-3

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