Figure 1.
Comparison of Ion Channel Use on Human and Mouse Cardiomyocytes
Mouse hearts are smaller, beat faster, and have different ion channel expression profiles that human cardiomyocytes.
(A) Ion channels present on mouse and human cardiomyocytes; the length of the arrows corresponds to the amount of current carried by the channel (INa values are similar in mice and humans so that mutations or drugs affecting these channels will show similar responses in both species; IKr [HERG channel] differs between species so that mouse hearts show lower responses than humans). LQT (long QT) refers to the syndromes associated with mutations in the ion channels indicated.
(B) Electrocardiograms of humans and mice show corresponding differences in shape. The middle electrocardiogram shows that of mice on the same scale as human.