Effects of fibroblast-myocyte coupling on the sinoatrial node activity: A computational study

While the sinoatrial node (SAN) is structurally heterogeneous, most computer simulations of electrical activity take into account SAN pacemaker cells only. Our aim was to investigate how fibroblasts affect the SAN activity. We simulated the rabbit sinoatrial node accounting for differences between central and peripheral pacemaker cells, and for fibroblast-myocyte electrical coupling. We have observed that only if fibroblast-myocyte coupling is taken into account, (1) action potential is initiated in the central part of the SAN (within 1.2 mm of the center of simulated tissue); otherwise, leading centers are located on the periphery; (2) few (1 to 6) leading centers initiate action potential in the SAN; otherwise, we observed more than 8 leading centers; (3) acetylcholine superfusion results in a shift of leading centers toward the SAN periphery; and (4) sinus pauses up to 1.9 second follow acetylcholine superfusion. We observed negligible effect of fibroblast-myocyte coupling on the period of SAN activation. We conclude that fibroblast-myocyte coupling may explain action potential initiation and propagation from the center of the SAN observed in experimental studies, while atrial load on the peripheral SAN fails to explain this fact.