Chapter category: Heart
Cardiac Remodeling and Heart Failure
Cardiac Mechanotransduction
Edited by: Matti Weckstrom and Pasi TaviISBN: 978-0-387-48867-7
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Chapter authors:
Jeffrey H. Omens*, Andrew D. McCulloch and Ilka Lorenzen-Schmidt
Mechanotransduction is the process by which the cells of the heart convert mechanical signals to chemical signals responsible for cellular adaptation and remodeling. When this system cannot meet the demands of increased loading conditions, the cellular response will not be adequate, and eventually the pumping function of the heart will fail. Mechanical signaling and force transmission within and outside the myocyte are important players in the mechanotransduction process, and the cytoskeleton is a key component in the structural link between the force-generating sarcomere, the cell membrane and putative intracellular stress-sensing components. Several defects in cytoskeletal components have been linked to cardiac dilation and heart failure. LIM proteins are one such structural component of the cytoskeleton, and defects in these proteins lead to both right and left ventricular dysfunction. Although these proteins may have chemical signaling roles in mechanotransduction, their structural role in force transmission and mechanical signaling is being investigated and characterized. Thus, there is evidence that structural components of the myocardium such as the myocyte cytoskeleton play a critical role in mechanotransduction and are part of the mechanism behind cardiac remodeling and eventual heart failure.
Additional chapters from this book:
Mechanotransduction of the Endocrine Heart Paracrine and Intracellular Regulation of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Synthesis
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Intracellular Signaling Through Protein Kinases in Cardiac Mechanotransduction
Peter H. Sugden
There is good evidence that stress-induced deformation of the cardiac myocyte can activate intracellular signaling pathways, though how this is brought about is still partly a mystery, some clues bein...
Mechanoelectric Transduction/Feedback: Physiology and Pathophysiology
Max J. Lab
Cardiac “mechanotransduction” involves various physiological and biophysical phenomena in which mechanical energy is transduced to changes in function of cardiac myocytes and of the whole heart. In th...
The Role of Adrenoceptors in Mechanotransduction
Klaus-Dieter Schlüter,* Hans Michael Piper and Sibylle Wenzel
Adrenoceptors are a large family of seven membrane spanning G-protein coupled receptors involved in many regulatory processes of the heart. Under conditions of mechanical load to heart, i.e., pressure...
Second Messenger Systems Involved in Heart Mechanotransduction
Hiroshi Hasegawa, Hiroyuki Takano, Yunzeng Zou, Hiroshi Akazawa and Issei Komuro
Mechanical stress can be considered one of the major stimuli that evoke hypertrophic responses including reprogramming of gene expression in cardiac myocytes. Therefore, it is important to understand ...
Cardiac Remodeling and Heart Failure
Jeffrey H. Omens*, Andrew D. McCulloch and Ilka Lorenzen-Schmidt
Mechanotransduction is the process by which the cells of the heart convert mechanical signals to chemical signals responsible for cellular adaptation and remodeling. When this system cannot meet the...
The Role of the Sarcomere and Cytoskeleton in Cardiac Mechanotransduction
Sarah C. Calaghan and Ed White
The basic contractile unit of the cardiac myocyte is the sarcomere. Force develops as a result of the interaction of myosin heads with the actin thin filament. Actin filaments are directly connected...
Origin of Mechanotransduction: Stretch-Activated Ion Channels
Clive M. Baumgarten
Stretch-activated ion channels (SAC) serve as cardiac mechanotransducers. Mechanical stretch of intact tissue, isolated myocytes, or membrane patches rapidly elicits the open ing of poorly selective...
The Mechanosensory Heart: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Matti Weckström and Pasi Tavi
The cardiac muscle has an intrinsic ability to sense its filling state and react to its changes, independently of cardiac innervation that may partially serve the same functions. This ability, i...
