...Tânia Martins-Marques; Steve Catarino; Carla Marques; Paulo Pereira; Henrique Girão The main function of the heart is to pump blood to the different parts of the organism, a task that is efficiently accomplished through proper electric and metabolic coupling between cardiac cells, ensured by gap...

...Jacqueline Howie; Lindsay B. Tulloch; Michael J. Shattock; William Fuller The Na + /K + -ATPase (Na + pump) is the principal consumer of ATP in multicellular organisms. In the heart, the Na + gradient established by the pump is essential for all aspects of cardiac function, and appropriate...

..., such as ET-1 (endothelin-1) or α-adrenergic agents that generate Ins P 3 , there is an increase in the force of contraction and the regular beats can become chaotic just like the atrial arrhythmias seen in the diseased heart. Since these cardiac hormones are elevated during heart disease, it is likely...

... to breakdown rather than synthesize ATP and, if unrestrained, leads to necrotic cell death. The MPTP is opened in response to Ca 2+ overload, especially when accompanied by oxidative stress, elevated phosphate concentration and adenine nucleotide depletion. These conditions are experienced by the heart...

... into the pathogenesis of this disorder, particularly that relating to the heart phenotype. Individuals with the same genetic disorder often show remarkable differences in clinical severity, a finding generally attributed to the genetic background. We identified two patients with genetically proven EDMD, who followed...

... 2007 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Biochemical Society 2007 heart ion channel KCNE1 KCNQ1 long QT syndrome 5 (LQTS) trafficking LQTS causes sudden death, syncope and seizures in affected individuals. LQT1 and LQT5 are associated with mutations in the KVLQT1...

...; of particular interest in cardiac physiology is the modulation of nNOS (neuronal nitric oxide synthase) by isoform 4b of PMCA. In the present paper, we will discuss recent advances that support a key role for PMCA4 in modulating the nitric oxide signalling pathway in the heart. 1 To whom correspondence...

...B. Lygren; K. Taskén Co-ordinated myocyte handling of calcium is essential for efficient excitation–contraction coupling in the heart. The calcium cycling activity can be modulated by adrenergic stimulation and subsequent phosphorylation. Important functional consequences of phosphorylation include...

... cell death of the heart and brain that occurs during reperfusion after a long period of ischaemia. Such reperfusion injury is a major problem during cardiac surgery and in the treatment of coronary thrombosis and stroke. Prevention of MPTP opening either directly, using agents such as cyclosporin...

... systems. I use models of the heart to demonstrate that we can now go all the way from individual genetic information (on mutations, for example) to exploring the consequences at a whole-organ level. Yes, let's celebrate the emergence of Systems Biology as a discipline. The challenge posed...

... indicate that plakoglobin localization in the heart region shifts from adherens junctions to desmosomes during heart chamber development. β-catenin desmosomes heart plakoglobin zebrafish Cell adhesion is important in many cellular processes including organ development. In vertebrates, cell...

... of the aroused condition and heart rates are as low as 3–10 beats/min, compared with 200–300 beats/min when the animal is active. This seasonal adaptation requires a metabolic shift away from the oxidation of carbohydrates and towards the combustion of stored fatty acids as the primary source of energy. A key...

...S. Eaton; K. Fukumoto; N. Paladio Duran; A. Pierro; L. Spitz; P. A. Quant; K. Bartlett Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is assumed to be rate limiting for β-oxidation in all tissues. However, the concentration of malonyl-CoA in heart and muscle is high and is enough to completely inhibit β...

.... Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are normally not available as an energy substrate for the fetal heart; however, when LCFA are supplied artificially in near-term fetal lambs, they are readily oxidized. Hence the myocardium has no limitation to its ability to use LCFA before birth. After birth, lactate...

... homoeo- ~ ~ Key words : heart, liver, muscle, peroxisome-prolifetator-activated receptor a, pyruvate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase. Abbreviations used: CPT, camitine palmitoyltransferase; FA, fatty acid; PDC, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex: PDK, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase; PPAR...