Cellular models of cardiac channelopathies

The rhythmic beating of the heart is the result of the concerted activity of its units, cells called cardiomyocytes. When this activity becomes dysrhythmic or chaotic, life-threatening conditions, named cardiac arrhythmias, occur. Often, these events are caused by genetic mutations in specialized proteins present on the surface of cardiomyocytes, the ion channels. In order to study mechanisms causing cardiac arrhythmias, simplified cellular models recapitulating cardiomyocyte features are used. This thesis investigated how different cellular models can be of use to the discovery of genetic and drug-induced cardiac arrhythmia mechanisms. The use of many cellular models and the integration with other disciplines such as clinics and computer-based modelling, will improve the knowledge of genetic and drug-induced cardiac arrhythmias, contributing to the reduction of animal experiments and to the development of more personalized therapies.