{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T00:22:44Z","timestamp":1792023764812,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774483200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774483200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000050","name":"National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P01 HL164311"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P01 HL164311"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000050","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000050","name":"National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01 HL175074"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 HL175074"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000050","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The Journal of Physiology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"\n Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n As a result of the electrotonic effect, under gap junction coupling, a critical number of excited cells is needed to elicit electrical conduction in cardiac tissue, a phenomenon called the source\u2013sink effect. However, it is unclear how ephaptic coupling affects the source\u2013sink effect. To address this issue, we carry out computer simulations to investigate the effects of ephaptic coupling and its interaction with gap junction coupling on conduction triggered by the following types of depolarization: (i) an external stimulation; (ii) a delayed afterdepolarization; and (iii) automaticity. Simulations were carried out using a one\u2010dimensional cable with the presence of a cleft between two adjacent myocytes and junctional ion channel distributions. We show that: (i) under pure ephaptic coupling, only one stimulated cell is needed to elicit conduction, implying that there is no source\u2013sink effect; (i) the minimum number of stimulated (or delayed afterdepolarization or oscillatory) cells needed to elicit a conduction increases as gap junction conductance increases, as predicted by the gap junction coupling theory; and (iii) the dependence of the source\u2013sink effect on the cleft width exhibits complex behaviours, which are mainly caused by self\u2010attenuation of the junctional sodium current as a result of the ephaptic effect and self\u2010enhancement of the junctional inward rectifier potassium current as a result of an increase of potassium concentration in the cleft. In conclusion, ephaptic coupling and cleft width play non\u2010trivial roles in the source\u2013sink effect of cardiac conduction and thus may be non\u2010trivial for arrhythmogenesis under disease conditions in which gap junctions and cleft structure are altered.\n \n \n image<\/jats:alt-text>\n <\/jats:graphic>\n <\/jats:boxed-text>\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Key points<\/jats:title>\n \n \n \n Gap junction coupling is recognized as the primary mechanism of cardiac conduction, but ephaptic coupling may also play a non\u2010trivial role.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n Source\u2013sink effects are a key feature of cardiac conduction, and it is unclear how they are affected by ephaptic coupling.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n Computer simulations are used to investigate how source\u2013sink effects are altered by ephaptic coupling and its interaction with gap junction coupling.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n Under pure ephaptic coupling, only one stimulated cell is needed to elicit conduction, implying that there is no source\u2013sink effect.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n The minimum number of depolarized cells needed to elicit a conduction exhibits complex behaviours and depends on the manner of depolarization. These effects are mainly caused by self\u2010attenuation of the junctional sodium current as a result of the ephaptic effect and self\u2010enhancement of the inward rectifier potassium current as a result of increase of potassium concentration in the cleft.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n <\/jats:list>\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1113\/jp290495","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T13:50:29Z","timestamp":1774533029000},"page":"3265-3281","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Ephaptic coupling and the source\u2013sink effect of cardiac conduction"],"prefix":"10.1113","volume":"604","author":[{"given":"Jingwu","family":"Pan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California Los Angeles CA 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