This proposal requests funds to permit Dr. Teresa R. Chay, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, to pursue with Dr. Young Seek Lee, Hanyang University, for a period of 24 months, a program of cooperative research on normal/abnormal cardiac rhythms. The research will consist of two parts, (1) studying the properties of single channel activity in the heart cells from patch-clamp recordings and (2) understanding cardiac arrhythmias by the theory of nonlinear dynamics and the effects of antiarrhythmic drugs. Computer simulation of impulse initiations and propagation will show how changes in the ionic channel properties would bring the system to chaos. These studies will allow the researchers to predict the onset of arrhythmias and predict the effect of antiarrhythmic substances known to block sodium, calcium, and potassium ion channels. The availability of advanced scientific computers has greatly expanded the possibility for using mathematical modeling as an approach to the study of physiological processes. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop a thorough understanding of the electrical phenomena that underlie the rhythmic activity of the heart. The U.S. and Korean collaborators not only have extensive individual research records but also a record of successful collaboration in the field of the proposal. This project is relevant to the objectives of the U.S.-Korea Cooperative Science Program which seeks to increase the level of cooperation between U.S. and Korean scientists and engineers through the exchange of scientific information, ideas, skills, and techniques and through collaboration on problems of mutual benefit. Korean participation in the project is supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF). The PI's primary research costs are supported under NSF Grant No. DCB-8819245, to which the present project adds an international cooperative dimension.
