Guest Editors
Luis Hortells
Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Freiburg
Dr. Luis Hortells obtained his DVM and MSc degrees from the University of Zaragoza. After that, he obtained a grant from the Autonomous University of Barcelona to develop his internship in small animal medicine and surgery. Then, and for the next 4 years, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Molecular Toxicology department of the University of Zaragoza while developing his PhD research. In 2016, he moved to the US where he developed 4 years of postdoctoral research. During his time in the Heart Institute of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital he obtained a postdoctoral Scholarship from the American Heart Association and was awarded with the Arnold Strauss award to perform independent research. Since early 2021 Luis moved to Freiburg where he leads a group focused on the intracardiac nervous system while maintaining a close collaboration with groups from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Dalhousie University or University of Colorado.
Matthew R. Stoyek
Dalhousie University, Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Dr. Matthew R. Stoyek is a Senior Scientist in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Dalhousie University. His work focuses on regulation of cardiac output, particularly by the autonomic nervous system. He uses electrophysiology, optogenetics, immunohistochemistry, pharmacology, and imaging techniques to perform integrated physiological investigations of the functional roles of intracardiac neurons in cardiac regulatory pathways. He has established zebrafish as a model for studying intracardiac nervous system control of pacemaker function and is currently using genetically modified zebrafish as a model for investigation of cardiac autonomic (patho-)physiology, developmental abnormalities, and electromechanical regulation.
Collection Overview
The presence of an intracardiac nervous system (ICNS) has intrigued scientists for more than 200 years, with the first published reference, Tabulae Nevrologicae, appearing in 17941. The ICNS has been implicated in arrhythmia development after myocardial infarction2, and during aging3, but also it is known to be required for neonatal cardiac regeneration4. Surprisingly, the details of the ICNS implications for pathology, as well as its therapeutic potential remain poorly defined. Until recently, the study of the ICNS in general, and the roles of its non-neuronal support cells in particular, has been difficult due to the lack of specific experimental tools. In this collection, we aim to gather the available protocols to study the ICNS from structural, cellular, molecular, and electrophysiological points of view, as well as how to integrate these methods. By increasing the accessibility and knowledge of these technologies, we hope to ease the access to study of the ICNS and enhance our knowledge of ICNS physiology, pathology, and therapeutics.
Articles
Optogenetic Activation of Intrinsic Cardiac Autonomic Neurons in Excised Perfused Mouse Hearts
0 Views
•
Cited by 1
•
2025
•