Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 3:00-4:00 ET
Differences in the Intrinsic Cardiac Ganglion Neurons Between Species: Mice, Pigs, and Humans
Presenter: John D. Tompkins, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor University of California Los Angeles
About the Seminar, a note from John
I’m excited to invite you to my upcoming seminar, where I’ll be presenting our recent work exploring the structure and function of intrinsic cardiac neurons (ICNs) across species.
ICNs are critical for the regulation of heart function, yet there’s been a surprising lack of detailed data on human ICNs—until now. In our study, we took a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to compare ICNs from mice, pigs, and human donor hearts. Using a range of techniques—including immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, intracellular recordings, and quantitative morphometry—we built a publicly accessible cellular atlas of these neurons.
I’ll walk you through the remarkable similarities and key differences we found. These species-specific patterns in excitability, synaptic architecture, and neuropeptide expression offer fresh insights into the evolution and function of ICNs. More importantly, they have direct implications for understanding human cardiac autonomic regulation and for developing new neuromodulation strategies in conditions like atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
I hope you’ll join me for a discussion of these findings and their broader impact.
Looking forward to seeing you there
This seminar is now available on the SPARC YouTube Channel.
| Research | Contributions |
|---|---|
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Increased arrhythmia susceptibility in type 2 diabetic mice related to dysregulation of ventricular sympathetic innervation Contributed dataset |
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Identification of peripheral neural circuits that regulate heart rate using optogenetic and viral vector strategies Contributed dataset |
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Regional analysis of autonomic nerves in normal and diseased human hearts Contributed dataset |
