Electro-mechanical wave formations in mechanosensitive cardiac tissues via data-integrative modeling.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Ingrid Weiss, since 10/2024
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics ; Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology ; Biophysics
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442207423

Cardiac tissues are prone to diseased life-threatening wave formations under disturbed mechanic environments. It is well established that single adherent fibroblast cells are mechanosensitive. However, cardiac tissue is composed of two cell types, the scaffold forming fibroblasts and the contractile cardiomyocytes, which together form a complex mechano-electrophysiologically excitable system. The cell and tissue mechanics play a crucial role to maintain stable wave pattern formations. One particular poorly understood wave formation is alternans, a spatiotemporal signaling instability with wave and speed alternations that can also spatially separate by the so-called nodal lines. This project will investigate the signal and tissue morphology relationship in developing mechanosensitive cardiac tissues via a data-integrative modeling. A particular focus is put on alternans and nodal line dynamics. We use a customized macroscopic optical microscopy system for live-imaging of electrophysiological waves. Mechanically defined extracellular environments are mimicked by rigidity-tunable substrates based on supramolecular host-guest hydrogels. Cell-sorting techniques are applied to control the fraction of fibroblasts in confluent in vitro cardiac monolayers. A mechano-sensitive mathematical model for pattern formation in cardiac tissues will be implemented and parametrized by the experimental data (signaling and tissue morphology) and then applied to determine the mechanisms of initiation, stability and dynamics criteria of alternans and nodal lines.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Marcel Hörning, until 9/2024