Dynamic clamp: a powerful tool in cardiac electrophysiology

Dynamic clamp is a collection of closely related techniques that have been employed in cardiac electrophysiology to provide direct answers to numerous research questions regarding basic cellular mechanisms of action potential formation, action potential transfer and action potential synchronization in health and disease. Building on traditional current clamp, dynamic clamp was initially used to create virtual gap junctions between isolated myocytes. More recent applications include the embedding of a real pacemaking myocyte in a simulated network of atrial or ventricular cells and the insertion of virtual ion channels, either simulated in real time or simultaneously recorded from an expression system, into the membrane of an isolated myocyte. These applications have proven that dynamic clamp, which is characterized by the real-time evaluation and injection of simulated membrane current, is a powerful tool in cardiac electrophysiology. Here, each of the three different experimental configurations used in cardiac electrophysiology is reviewed. Also, directions are given for the implementation of dynamic clamp in the cardiac electrophysiology laboratory. With the growing interest in the application of dynamic clamp in cardiac electrophysiology, it is anticipated that dynamic clamp will also prove to be a powerful tool in basic research on biological pacemakers and in identification of specific ion channels as targets for drug development.