Janaka Wansapura1, Doug Millay1, Jeff Molkentin1, Woody Benson1
1Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Accumulated Mn2+ within the myocardial tissue causes signal enhancement. In this study, we infused delta-sarcoglycan null mice, a model for muscular dystrophy with highly purified 20mM, MnCl2.4H2O while TrueFISP images were being obtained in the short axis. Compared to WT, these mice showed significantly low rate of enhancement in the myocardium. It is widely accepted that dystrophic cardiomyocytes show altered Ca2+ influx. Increased [Ca2+] cause decreased Mn2+ uptake by the heart. Thus our results demonstrate the feasibility of assessing Ca2+ dysregulation in the dystrophic heart using Mn enhancement.