February, 2005- 'Top ten' lists are very trendy these days and the scientific community has taken note of this easy way to organize and highlight significant contributions to a field. MBC professor Dr. W. Jonathan Lederer's 1993 Science paper* on the discovery of calcium sparks rounded out such a list, which started with the original 1883 account from Sydney Ringer describing the now ubiquitous Ringer's Solution. The list was published in Physiology News, one of the UK's Physiology Society's publications. The first installment of what is to be a series appeared in the Winter 2004 issue as an article** by Dr. David Miller from the University of Glasgow on his picks for cardiac muscle research. With over 640 citations at the time Dr. Miller's article was written, Dr. Lederer's paper was one of the top three most cited and the newest paper on the list.

Dr. Lederer, who is Director of the Medical Biotechnology Center, was quite astounded at the inclusion of his ground breaking work on the list. "I am quite honored to be included in such illustrious company."

Calcium sparks are the elementary units of calcium release in heart muscle. It is the release of calcium that initiates the contraction of heart cells. Thus, sparks are at the very foundation of heart function.

Besides his laboratory's work on calcium sparks, Dr. Lederer is also known for his discovery of a new cause of heart failure. He travels extensively and has organized several international meetings on calcium signaling in heart.


* Cheng, H., Lederer, W.J. & Cannell, M.B. (1993) Calcium sparks: elementary events underlying excitation-contraction coupling in heart muscle. Science 262, 740-744.

**Miller, D. (2004) A (highly personal) 'Top Ten' of cardiac muscle papers. Physiology News, Winter 2004, Number 57, pp. 9-11.