High-resolution optical mapping reveals that a 50% reduction in Cx43 expression significantly slows conduction velocity in mouse hearts, suggesting previous negative findings were due to technical limitations.
A approximately 50% reduction of Cx43 expression causes significant conduction velocity slowing in the Cx43+/- mouse heart. The apparent lack of conduction velocity changes reported in previous studies may be related to technical factors rather than variations in genetic background. High-resolution optical mapping is a powerful tool for investigating molecular determinants of propagation and arrhythmias in genetically engineered mice.
Benjamin C. Eloff (Sat,) studied this question.