Professor David Eisner

BHF Chair of Cardiac Physiology

University of Manchester

Heart muscle cells contract and relax in a rhythmic way. This action pumps blood around our bodies effectively.

Contraction and relaxation of heart cells is partly managed by a controlled flow of calcium particles called ions. Faults in calcium ion flow can cause life-threatening irregularities in our heart’s rhythm. These irregularites are called arrhythmia.

Most of the calcium that activates heart cell contraction comes from a store within the cell, called the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Calcium moves in and out of this store in a tightly regulated way, through specialised channels and gates, and in response to a variety of signals in the cell.

Sometimes signals get confused, or sometimes the specialized channels are faulty. This can cause the release of too much calcium from the cell’s store. In turn this disrupts the electrical current in the heart and the heart beats abnormally.

In the most serious cases this abnormal beat can cause sudden death.

Professor Eisner and his team are investigating in detail how calcium regulation works and what happens when it goes wrong.

Heart failure

If the workload of the heart increases it becomes enlarged. This can increase the incidence of arrhythmias and, if excessive, can lead to heart failure. Professor Eisner's Manchester team - particularly Dr Andrew Trafford - is investigating how altered calcium signalling plays a part in this damaging process.

Heart attack and arrhythmias

In heart attack, the heart muscle is deprived of blood. Restoring blood flow is an essential treatment to save heart muscle but it can also cause other problems. The technical name for restoring blood flow is reperfusion.

Spontaneous calcium release in the heart cells can occur when doctors restore blood flow, leading to irregular heartbeats. Eisner’s team are investigating the changes in heart cells caused by reperfusion to understand how we can avoid them.

Polyunsaturated fats

We know that a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids helps to protect against heart disease. Polyunsaturated fats are found in foods such as oily fish.

In Professor Eisner’s team, Dr Stephen O’Neill is looking into the beneficial effects of these fats on the regulation of calcium flow in the heart, and heart contraction.

Professor Eisner’s research to unravel the complexities of calcium signalling will help us design medicines to prevent or correct irregular heart rhythms caused by disruption of calcium flow.