TREK-1 characterization in cardiac ventricular electrophysiology

The internship that I will be undertaking at the IHU Lyric in Bordeaux, under the supervision of David Benoist, focuses on cardiac pathologies, in particular ventricular arrhythmias. My project examines the role of the TREK-1 channel in the electrophysiology of the right ventricle (RV).

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TREK-1, a stretch-activated potassium channel, appears to influence the resting membrane potential and the shortening of the action potential duration of cardiac cells. The lack of in-depth studies on the precise role of TREK-1 in cardiac function, probably due to the absence of a specific inhibitor, motivates one of the aims of my internship: to evaluate specific pharmacological agents using the patch-clamp to shed light on the role of TREK-1 in mouse cardiomyocytes.

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Previous work suggests that a reduction in TREK-1 current may have pro-arrhythmic properties, and its expression seems to be linked to areas of the heart that are more exposed to mechanical stress, such as the right ventricle with its thinner thickness. The aim of the training period is therefore also to determine and compare TREK-1 expression in the right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle (LV) of the healthy mouse heart, while highlighting the functional role of TREK-1 in the electrophysiology of the RV in these mice. Having achieved these objectives, the next step will be to evaluate the role of TREK-1 under arrhythmogenic conditions.