Facilities
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The Howlett laboratory is fully equipped to investigate myocardial function.Ìý Our state-of-the-art facilities to can investigate heart function across the life course at all levels, from in vivo mouse studies to experiments at the cellular and sub-cellular levels.Ìý In addition to access to shared resources through our , we have expertise in the following research techniques:Ìý
- Assessment of overall health (fitness/frailty) with our novel frailty index tools
- In vivo heart imaging with echocardiography
- In vivo blood pressure monitoring with tail cuff and telemetry techniques
- In vivo electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring
- Langendorff-perfused and working heart studies
- Voltage and patch clamp studies in isolated cardiac myocytes
- Measurement of contraction and sarcomere length in living heart cells
- Imaging intracellular calcium levels with fluorescence systems (fura-2 and fluo-4)
- Imaging subcellular calcium release events (calcium sparks) with confocal microscopy
- Simulated ischemia and reperfusion in isolated cardiac myocytes
- Biochemical and molecular studies of calcium handling proteins
