AUTHOR=Kohajda Zsófia , Loewe Axel , Tóth Noémi , Varró András , Nagy Norbert 

TITLE=The Cardiac Pacemaker Story—Fundamental Role of the Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger in Spontaneous Automaticity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.00516

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2020.00516

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=The electrophysiological mechanism of the sinus-node automaticity was considered exclusively to the function of the so-called „funny-current” for a long time, however, parallel investigations increasingly emphasized the importance of the Ca2+-homeostasis and Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Recently, large number of experimental evidences, as well as delicate mechanistic in-silico modeling demonstrate the crucial role of the exchanger in sinus-node pacemaking. This review aimed to focus to the emerging role of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger from the early results to the recent concepts.