Regulation of cardiac action potential duration by neurotransmitters and co-transmitters

The autonomic nervous system plays a critical role in regulating cardiac contractility, but it must do so while maintaining precise control of action potential duration (APD) in order to ensure orderly propagation of electrical impulses throughout the heart. This requires the orchestration of multiple ion channel responses, but exactly which ones are most important in sustaining this balancing act vary depending on the species. Many studies have addressed this question using the hearts of small animals, such as the mouse or rat, where the ion channels involved in regulating APD are very different from those found in human cardiac myocytes.