Figure 3. Spark frequency is reduced in Tbx5fl/fl;R26CreERT2 atrial cardiomyocytes.
(A) Western blot from atrial tissue from 10 animals per genotype was used to measure RyR2 expression. RyR2 was significantly decreased in Tbx5fl/fl;R26CreERT2 atria compared to R26CreERT2 atria (normalized to GAPDH). (B) Fluo-4 loaded cardiomyocytes demonstrated reduced spark frequency in Tbx5fl/fl;R26CreERT2 compared to R26CreERT2 atrial cardiomyocytes (representative recordings). (C) Spark frequency was reduced at rest and after steady state pacing at different frequencies (myocytes/mice; n = 12/4 Tbx5fl/fl;R26CreERT2 and n = 12/3 R26CreERT2). (D) Ryanodine binding assay (without normalization) demonstrated no significant difference over the physiologic range of [Ca]i in Tbx5fl/fl;R26CreERT2 compared to R26CreERT2 (Weng et al., 2018). Each measure corresponds to an assay performed on pooled atria from 8 to 10 mice with three independent measures per condition (*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001).