Ruprecht-Karls Heidelberg University

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Contractility Measurements on Isolated Papillary Muscles for the Investigation of Cardiac Inotropy in Mice

Sebastian Uhl¹, Marc Freichel¹, Ilka Mathar¹

¹Pharmakologisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg

Murine left ventricular papillary muscle can be used to investigate cardiac contractility in vitro. This article describes in detail the isolation and experimental protocols to study cardiac contractile characteristics.

Immunology and Infection

Isolation of Peritoneum-derived Mast Cells and Their Functional Characterization with Ca²⁺-imaging and Degranulation Assays

Volodymyr Tsvilovskyy¹, Alejandra Solis-Lopez¹, Kathrin Öhlenschläger¹, Marc Freichel¹

¹Institute of Pharmacology, Ruprecht-Karls Heidelberg University

Here, we present a protocol to isolate and cultivate murine peritoneal mast cells. We also describe two protocols for their functional characterization: a fluorescent imaging of intracellular free Ca²⁺ concentration and a degranulation assay based on colorimetric quantification of the released β-hexosaminidase.

JoVE Core

Cardiac Response to β-Adrenergic Stimulation Determined by Pressure-Volume Loop Analysis

Rebekka Medert^*1,2, Lucas Bacmeister^*1,2,3, Sebastian Segin^*1,2,4, Marc Freichel^1,2, Juan E. Camacho Londoño^1,2

¹Pharmakologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, ²DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Heidelberg/Mannheim, ³Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Heidelberg, ⁴Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen

Here we describe a cardiac pressure-volume loop analysis under increasing doses of intravenously infused isoproterenol to determine the intrinsic cardiac function and the β-adrenergic reserve in mice. We use a modified open-chest approach for the pressure-volume loop measurements, in which we include ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure.