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From a nonlinear dynamics point of view, cardiomyocytes can be described as mechanically coupled oscillatores. In a close collaboration with the biomedical physics group lead by Stefan Luther (also MPI Dynamics and Self-Organization), we apply automated microscopy to acquire large scale and long-term recordings of cardiomyocytes embedded in a collagen gel. These show the development of synchronized beating within 24-48 hours. |
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Sketch of the experimental approach. The dispersed cardiomyocytes are imaged on different xyz-positions to
trace their synchronization, which is later calculater by cross correlating the intensity profiles.
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Exemplary experiment. High-speed recording of beating cardiomyocytes on a Collagen gel (1980 min after seeding the cardiomyoctes).
The colored overlay indicates detected motion to visualize the beating.
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