Bursting calcium rotors in cultured cardiac myocyte monolayers

Rotating waves (rotors) of cellular activity were observed in nonconfluent cultures of embryonic chick heart cells by using a macroscopic imaging system that detected fluorescence from intracellular Ca(2+). Unlike previous observations of rotors or spiral waves in other systems, the rotors did not persist but exhibited a repetitive pattern of spontaneous onset and offset leading to a bursting rhythm. Similar dynamics were observed in a cellular automaton model of excitable media that incorporates spontaneous initiation of activity, and a decrease of excitability as a consequence of rapid activity (fatigue). These results provide a mechanism for bursting dynamics in normal and pathological biological processes.