Figure 3.

Cardiac Monolayer Response to Stellate Sympathetic Neuron Stimulation via Nicotine

(Top panel) Bright field image of a confluent cardiac monolayer with cardiac sympathetic stellate neurons seeded on top.

(Bottom panel) An example trace of a co-culture nicotine stimulation experiment. Each data point represents a 5-s video recording consisting of at least six full contractions. Repeat nicotine doses (10 and 50 μM) caused transient increases in myocyte beat rate; control vehicle (distilled water) of the same volume had no effect. Comparisons between pre- and post-nicotine beat rates were performed using a t test; ∗p < 0.0001.