What occurs below the cellular level when the heart agreements and unwinds has long been uncharted. Thanks to brand-new ultra-high-resolution electron microscopy strategies, scientists can now see the heart beating– almost at a molecular level. Scientists at the Medical Faculty of the University of Freiburg summarise the most essential developments in cardiac electron microscopy and their significance for research in a current publication, published in Nature Reviews Cardiology. Insight at the nanometer scale is of excellent value for the development of brand-new therapies, for example for heart attacks or cardiac arrhythmias.
” With the high-resolution microscopy strategies developed by us and others worldwide, we get remarkable insights into the vibrant ultrastructure of the heart,” states the studys lead author Dr. Eva Rog-Zielinska. She heads the 4D Imaging Section at the Institute of Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine (IEKM) of the University Heart Centre at the University Medical Centre Freiburg “We can use this insight to analyze the three-dimensional structure of heart cells with extraordinary accuracy. Our images are comprised of cubes– so-called voxels– with an edge length of one nanometer or less. For illustration: one nanometer is the distance a fingernail grows in one 2nd,” Rog-Zielinska explains.
Based on electron tomography information, intracellular organelles of a cardiomyocyte can be imaged and rebuilded in 3D with nanometer precision. Credit: Medical Center– University of Freiburg.
Enjoying the heart beat in very sluggish movement
A difficulty is to link ultra-high resolution mapping of the heart to a moving target. “Thanks to recent advances in imaging, we now have a better understanding of how muscle and connective tissue cells behave in the beating heart,” states co-author Prof Peter Kohl, Director of the IEKM, who is also the representative of the German Collaborative Research Centre 1425 committed to exploring heart scarring.
Electron microscopy itself, however crucially also recently developed techniques for the preparation and post-processing of matching samples, play a main function in the generation of molecular insight. “It is especially amazing that we can tape muscle cells like individual frames in a film– thanks to millisecond-precise high-pressure freezing. This allows us to view the hearts molecular structures beating in super sluggish motion, as it were,” states Kohl.
Experiments, simulations and expert system intertwine
The tiny images are examined at IEKM with the help of artificial intelligence, helped by computer simulations to portray heart function and pathological modifications as reasonably as possible. “Newly acquired insight permits us to acquire a totally brand-new understanding of heart activity and, based on this, to develop brand-new therapeutic principles. We are anticipating an extremely amazing time in heart research study,” states Kohl.
Reference: “Electron microscopy of cardiac 3D nanodynamics: kind, function, future” by Peter Kohl, Joachim Greiner and Eva A. Rog-Zielinska, 8 April 2022, Nature Reviews Cardiology.DOI: 10.1038/ s41569-022-00677-x.
What happens listed below the cellular level when the heart contracts and unwinds has long been undiscovered. Thanks to new ultra-high-resolution electron microscopy methods, scientists can now watch the heart pounding– almost at a molecular level. Insight at the nanometer scale is of great importance for the advancement of brand-new therapies, for example for heart attacks or heart arrhythmias.
” With the high-resolution microscopy strategies established by us and others worldwide, we get remarkable insights into the dynamic ultrastructure of the heart,” says the research studys lead author Dr. Eva Rog-Zielinska.