Contribution of developmental changes in energy metabolism to excitation-contraction coupling of a ventricular cell: A simulation study

In fetal guinea pigs, ventricular cells have higher anaerobic glycolytic capacity and lower mitochondrial enzyme activity. Here, we implemented developmental changes in glycolytic enzyme activity, concentrations of glycogen, and total creatine in late embryonic and adult ventricular cell models. We then simulated the effects of hypoxic conditions on dynamic changes in contractile force and ATP concentration. Our model demonstrates that fetal ventricular cells maintain ATP for longer periods of time than adult ventricular cells. This is consistent with reported dynamics of ventricular cells under hypoxic conditions.