Viral Transgene Expression in Rodent Hearts and the Assessment of Cardiac Arrhythmia Risk.

ABSTRACT

Heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to their low cost, ease of handling, and abundance of transgenic strains, rodents have become essential models for cardiovascular research. However, spontaneous lethal cardiac arrhythmias that often cause mortality in heart disease patients are rare in rodent models of heart disease. This is primarily due to the species differences in cardiac electrical properties between human and rodents and poses a challenge to the study of cardiac arrhythmias using rodents. This protocol describes an approach to enable efficient transgene expression in mouse and rat ventricular myocardium using echocardiography-guided intramuscular injections of recombinant virus (adenovirus and adeno-associated virus). This work also outlines a method to enable reliable assessment of cardiac susceptibility to arrhythmias using isolated, Langendorff-perfused mouse and rat hearts with both adrenergic and programmed electrical stimulations. These techniques are critical for studying heart rhythm disorders associated with adverse cardiac remodeling after injuries, such as myocardial infarction.