--- title: 'Martin Laasmaa' url: 'https://sysbio.taltech.ee/people/martin-laasmaa' markdown: 'https://sysbio.taltech.ee/people/martin-laasmaa.md' date: '2026-08-22' description: 'Martin Laasmaa Currently, I am working as an assistant professor at the Laboratory of Systems Biology. My main research interests include calcium handling during excitation-contraction coupling and molecular movements in cardiomyocytes. Contact Email: martin@sysbio.ioc.ee Address: Laboratory of Sys…' --- # Martin Laasmaa Currently, I am working as an assistant professor at the Laboratory of Systems Biology. My main research interests include calcium handling during excitation-contraction coupling and molecular movements in cardiomyocytes. ## Contact **Email:** **Address:** Laboratory of Systems Biology Department of Cybernetics School of Science Tallinn University of Technology Akadeemia tee 15 12618 Tallinn Estonia **Phone:** (+372) 620 4406 --- ## Other Resources [Estonian Science Portal](https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Persons/Display/b1487aad-dc55-421d-a637-55ee12574ec3?tabId=CV_ENG&lang=ENG "Estonian Science Portal") [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martin_Laasmaa) --- ## Publications Karimi, H., Gustavson, O., Česnokova, I., Branovets, J., Birkedal, R., Laasmaa, M., & Vendelin, M. (2026). A Unified Platform for FCS and RICS Analysis with Advanced Statistical Inference. *ACS Omega*, *11*(12), 19201–19219. Branovets, J., Laasmaa, M., Stolova, J., Shen, X., Rätsepso, T., Bernasconi, R., Soodla, K., Balodis, M. J., Grahv, C., Hendrikson, E., Louch, W. E., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2025). Lifelong creatine deficiency leads to augmented sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release but not heart failure. *American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology*, *329*(2), H471–H489. Karimi, H., Laasmaa, M., Pihlak, M., & Vendelin, M. (2025). Statistical analysis of fluorescence intensity transients with Bayesian methods. *Science Advances*, *11*(16), eads4609. Jaska, L., Birkedal, R., Laasmaa, M., & Vendelin, M. (2024). Simple Analysis of Gel Images With IOCBIO Gel Software. *Bio-Protocol*, *14*(16), e5053. Kütt, J., Margus, G., Kask, L., Rätsepso, T., Soodla, K., Bernasconi, R., Birkedal, R., Järv, P., Laasmaa, M., & Vendelin, M. (2023). Simple analysis of gel images with IOCBIO Gel. *BMC Biology*, *21*(1), 225. Li, J., Sundnes, J., Hou, Y., Laasmaa, M., Ruud, M., Unger, A., Kolstad, T. R., Frisk, M., Norseng, P. A., Yang, L., Setterberg, I. E., Alves, E. S., Kalakoutis, M., Sejersted, O. M., Lanner, J. T., Linke, W. A., Lunde, I. G., de Tombe, P. P., & Louch, W. E. (2023). Stretch Harmonizes Sarcomere Strain Across the Cardiomyocyte. *Circulation Research*, *133*(3), 255–270. Hou, Y., Laasmaa, M., Li, J., Shen, X., Manfra, O., Nordén, E. S., Le, C., Zhang, L., Sjaastad, I., Jones, P. P., Soeller, C., & Louch, W. E. (2023). Live-cell photoactivated localization microscopy correlates nanoscale ryanodine receptor configuration to calcium sparks in cardiomyocytes. *Nature Cardiovascular Research*, *2*(3), 251–267. Laasmaa, M., Branovets, J., Stolova, J., Shen, X., Rätsepso, T., Balodis, M. J., Grahv, C., Hendrikson, E., Louch, W. E., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2023). Cardiomyocytes from female compared to male mice have larger ryanodine receptor clusters and higher calcium spark frequency. *The Journal of Physiology*, *601*(18), 4033–4052. Birkedal, R., Laasmaa, M., Branovets, J., & Vendelin, M. (2022). Ontogeny of cardiomyocytes: ultrastructure optimization to meet the demand for tight communication in excitation–contraction coupling and energy transfer. *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences*, *377*(1864), 20210321. Shen, X., van den Brink, J., Bergan-Dahl, A., Kolstad, T. R., Norden, E. S., Hou, Y., Laasmaa, M., Aguilar-Sanchez, Y., Quick, A. P., Espe, E. K., Sjaastad, I., Wehrens, X. H., Edwards, A. G., Soeller, C., & Louch, W. E. (2022). Prolonged β-adrenergic stimulation disperses ryanodine receptor clusters in cardiomyocytes and has implications for heart failure. *eLife*, *11*, e77725. Frisk, M., Le, C., Shen, X., Røe, Å. T., Hou, Y., Manfra, O., Silva, G. J. J., van Hout, I., Norden, E. S., Aronsen, J. M., Laasmaa, M., Espe, E. K. S., Zouein, F. A., Lambert, R. R., Dahl, C. P., Sjaastad, I., Lunde, I. G., Coffey, S., Cataliotti, A., … Louch, W. E. (2021). Etiology-Dependent Impairment of Diastolic Cardiomyocyte Calcium Homeostasis in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction. *Journal of the American College of Cardiology*, *77*(4), 405–419. Branovets, J., Karro, N., Barsunova, K., Laasmaa, M., Lygate, C. A., Vendelin, M., & Birkedal, R. (2021). Cardiac expression and location of hexokinase changes in a mouse model of pure creatine deficiency. *American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology*, *320*(2), H613–H629. Laasmaa, M., Branovets, J., Barsunova, K., Karro, N., Lygate, C. A., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2021). Altered calcium handling in cardiomyocytes from arginine-glycine amidinotransferase-knockout mice is rescued by creatine. *American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology*, *320*(2), H805–H825. Vendelin, M., Laasmaa, M., Kalda, M., Branovets, J., Karro, N., Barsunova, K., & Birkedal, R. (2020). IOCBIO Kinetics: An open-source software solution for analysis of data traces. *PLOS Computational Biology*, *16*(12), e1008475. Rubinstein, J., Woo, J. G., Garcia, A. M., Alsaied, T., Li, J., Lunde, P. K., Moore, R. A., Laasmaa, M., Sammons, A., Mays, W. A., Miyamoto, S. D., Louch, W. E., & Veldtman, G. R. (2020). Probenecid Improves Cardiac Function in Subjects with a Fontan Circulation and Augments Cardiomyocyte Calcium Homeostasis. *Pediatric Cardiology*, *41*(8), 1675–1688. Tazmini, K., Frisk, M., Lewalle, A., Laasmaa, M., Morotti, S., Lipsett, D. B., Manfra, O., Skogestad, J., Aronsen, J. M., Sejersted, O. M., Sjaastad, I., Edwards, A. G., Grandi, E., Niederer, S. A., Øie, E., & Louch, W. E. (2020). Hypokalemia Promotes Arrhythmia by Distinct Mechanisms in Atrial and Ventricular Myocytes. *Circulation Research*, *126*(7), 889–906. Lu, P., Veletić, M., Laasmaa, M., Vendelin, M., Louch, W. E., Halvorsen, P. S., Bergsland, J., & Balasingham, I. (2019). Multi-nodal nano-actuator pacemaker for energy-efficient stimulation of cardiomyocytes. *Nano Communication Networks*, *22*, 100270. Laasmaa, M., Lu, P., Veletić, M., Louch, W. E., Bergsland, J., Balasingham, I., & Vendelin, M. (2019). Energy-efficiency of Cardiomyocyte Stimulation with Rectangular Pulses. *Scientific Reports*, *9*(1), 1–9. Karro, N., Laasmaa, M., Vendelin, M., & Birkedal, R. (2019). Respiration of permeabilized cardiomyocytes from mice: no sex differences, but substrate-dependent changes in the apparent ADP-affinity. *Scientific Reports*, *9*(1), 1–11. Laasmaa, M., Karro, N., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2019). IOCBIO Sparks detection and analysis software. *PeerJ*, *7*, e6652. Karro, N., Sepp, M., Jugai, S., Laasmaa, M., Vendelin, M., & Birkedal, R. (2017). Metabolic compartmentation in rainbow trout cardiomyocytes: coupling of hexokinase but not creatine kinase to mitochondrial respiration. *Journal of Comparative Physiology B*, *187*(1), 103–116. Laasmaa, M., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2016). Revealing calcium fluxes by analyzing inhibition dynamics in action potential clamp. *Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology*, *100*, 93–108. Simson, P., Jepihhina, N., Laasmaa, M., Peterson, P., Birkedal, R., & Vendelin, M. (2016). Restricted ADP movement in cardiomyocytes: Cytosolic diffusion obstacles are complemented with a small number of open mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channels. *Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology*, *97*, 197–203. Birkedal, R., Laasmaa, M., & Vendelin, M. (2014). The location of energetic compartments affects energetic communication in cardiomyocytes. *Frontiers in Physiology*, *5*, 376. Illaste, A., Laasmaa, M., Peterson, P., & Vendelin, M. (2012). Analysis of Molecular Movement Reveals Latticelike Obstructions to Diffusion in Heart Muscle Cells. *Biophysical Journal*, *102*(4), 739–748. Laasmaa, M., Vendelin, M., & Peterson, P. (2011). Application of regularized Richardson-Lucy algorithm for deconvolution of confocal microscopy images. *Journal of Microscopy*, *243*(2), 124–140. --- ## Navigation - Parent: [Members](https://sysbio.taltech.ee/people.md) - Previous: [Marko Vendelin](https://sysbio.taltech.ee/people/marko-vendelin.md) - Next: [Rikke Birkedal](https://sysbio.taltech.ee/people/rikke-birkedal.md)