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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Local Field Fluorescence Microscopy: Imaging Cellular Signals in Intact Hearts

Local Field Fluorescence Microscopy: Imaging Cellular Signals in Intact Hearts

Published on: March 8, 2017

Intracellular pH regulation in heart.

Richard D Vaughan-Jones¹, Kenneth W Spitzer, Pawel Swietach

¹Burdon Sanderson Cardiac Science Centre, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford, Parks Road, OX1 3PT, UK. richard.vaughan-jones@physiol.ox.ac.uk

Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology

|December 2, 2008

Summary

Intracellular pH (pHi) regulates cardiac function and triggers arrhythmia. This review details cardiac myocyte pHi control mechanisms, transporter regulation, and their impact on calcium signaling and heart disease.

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Optical Quantification of Intracellular pH in Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian Tubule Epithelia with a Fluorescent Genetically-encoded pH Indicator

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Published on: August 11, 2017

Area of Science:

Cardiology
Cell Physiology
Biochemistry

Background:

Intracellular pH (pHi) is crucial for cardiac excitation, contraction, and electrical stability.
Dysregulation of pHi can trigger cardiac arrhythmias.
Understanding pHi regulation is key to addressing cardiac pathologies.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the mechanisms controlling intracellular pH (pHi) in cardiac myocytes.
To explore the regulation of sarcolemmal transporters and their signaling pathways.
To examine the role of pHi in cardiac function and disease.

Main Methods:

Review of intracellular and membrane mechanisms controlling cardiac myocyte pHi.
Analysis of kinetic regulation of sarcolemmal H+, OH-, and HCO3- transporters.
Examination of spatial coordination of pHi effector proteins in the myocardium.

Main Results:

pHi is modulated by pH-sensitive sarcolemmal transporters and receptor-coupled signaling.
Intracellular buffer shuttles, gap junctions, and carbonic anhydrase coordinate pHi effectors.
pHi regulatory proteins influence intracellular Ca2+ signaling.

Conclusions:

pHi regulation is fundamental to cardiac function.
Aberrant pHi contributes to myocardial ischemia, hypertrophy, and heart failure.
Targeting pHi regulatory proteins may offer therapeutic strategies for heart disease.