Ca2+-Calmodulin Dependent Inactivation of Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor is a Major Determinant of Ca2+ Alternans in Intact Hearts Jinhong Wei1,a, Jinjing Yao1,b, Darrell Belke1, Wenting Guo1,c, Xiaowei Zhong1,c, Bo Sun1,b, Ruiwu Wang1, John Paul Estillore1, Alexander Vallmitjana2, Raul Benitez2,3, Leif Hove-Madsen4,, Enrique Alvarez-Lacalle5, Blas Echebarria5, and S.R. Wayne Chen1,d,* From the 1Libin Cardiovascular Institute, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada, 2Department of Automatic Control, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034, Barcelona, Spain, 3Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), 08950, Barcelona, Spain; 4Biomedical Research Institute Barcelona IIBB-CSIC and IIB Sant Pau, Hospital de Sant Pau, 08025, Barcelona, Spain; and 5Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya- Barcelona Tech, Barcelona, Spain Running Title: CaM Control of Ca2+ Alternans aJW, recipient of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and Cumming School of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. bJY, BS, recipients of the Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions (AIHS) Fellowship Award. cXZ, WG, recipients of the Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions (AIHS) Studentship Award. dSRWC, AIHS Scientist. *To whom correspondence should be addressed. S.R. Wayne Chen, 3330 Hospital Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1. Tel.: 403-220-4235; e-mail:
[email protected]; Blas Echebarria,
[email protected]; Enrique Alvarez-Lacalle,
[email protected]; or Leif Hove-Madsen,
[email protected] Key words: Ventricular tachyarrhythmia, Ca2+ alternans, Ca2+ transient refractoriness, sarcoplasmic reticulum, cardiac ryanodine receptor, confocal Ca2+ imaging, intact heart imaging 1 ABSTRACT Rationale: Ca2+ alternans plays an essential role in cardiac alternans that can lead to ventricular fibrillation, but the mechanism underlying Ca2+ alternans remains undefined.