Pulsatile stretch remodels cell-to-cell communication in cultured myocytes

Mechanical stretch is thought to play an important role in remodeling atrial and ventricular myocardium and may produce substrates that promote arrhythmogenesis. In the present work, neonatal rat ventricular myocytes were cultured for 4 days as confluent monolayers on thin silicone membranes and then subjected to linear pulsatile stretch for up to 6 hours. Action potential upstrokes and propagation velocity (theta) were measured with multisite optical recording of transmembrane voltage of the cells stained with the voltage-sensitive dye RH237. Expression of the gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43) and the fascia adherens junction protein N-cadherin was measured immunohistochemically in the same preparations. Pulsatile stretch caused dramatic upregulation of intercellular junction proteins after only 1 hour and a further increase after 6 hours (Cx43 signal increased from 0.73 to 1.86 and 2.02% cell area, and N-cadherin signal increased from 1.21 to 2.11 and 2.74% cell area after 1 and 6 hours, respectively). This was paralleled by an increase in theta from 27 to 35 cm/s after 1 hour and 37 cm/s after 6 hours. No significant change in the upstroke velocity of the action potential or cell size was observed. Increased theta and protein expression were not reversible after 24 hours of relaxation. Nonpulsatile (static) stretch produced qualitatively similar but significantly smaller changes than pulsatile stretch. Thus, pulsatile linear stretch in vitro causes marked upregulation of proteins that form electrical and mechanical junctions, as well as a concomitant increase in propagation velocity. These changes may contribute to arrhythmogenesis in myocardium exposed to acute stretch.