Role of protein defects on the creation of premature cardiac beats

We investigate the molecular mechanism of inherited arrhythmias using a multiscale model. The model has numerous parameters some of which are estimated with voltage clamp data. Errors in the estimation of parameters have a dramatic effect on the investigation of the mechanism of arrhythmias. In some cases, these errors may prevent seeing the creation of a premature cardiac beat. We present an analysis technique of bioelectric data to estimate parameters that alleviates the problems associated with non-linear least square fitting. This new method allows us to systematically study how genetic mutations can lead to a premature cardiac beat, thereby rendering the heart at high risk of incidence of cardiac arrhythmias.