Actomyosin Structure of single Ventricular Cardiomyocytes

Heart contractility as one of the most important physiological functions relies on an intricate molecular and cellular architecture of cardiomyocytes (CM, heart muscle cells). Here we propose a single cell SAXS study of targeting the sarcomeric contraction in different stages of the contractile cycle, taking advantage of our previous work on scanning diffraction, sample environments, and analysis [1-5]. To this end, we will combine high resolution in real space (2µm beam at ID13) with high resolution in reciprocal space (unfocused collimated beam, 30µm spot size at ID02). Isolated human and murine CMs will be probed at a single cell level, hydrated and chemically fixed, using single shot acquisition.