cadiomyocyte function

Protein kinase C is the superfamily of intracellular effector molecules which control crucial cellular functions. Here, we for the first time did the percentage estimation of all known PKC and PKC-related isozymes at the individual cadiomyocyte level. Broad spectrum of PKC transcripts is expressed in the left ventricular myocytes. In addition to the well-known 'heart-specific' PKCα, cardiomyocytes have the high expression levels of PKCN1, PKCδ, PKCD2, PKCε. In general, we detected all PKC isoforms excluding PKCη...

Cardiotoxicity is the dose limiting adverse effect of anthracycline-based anticancer therapy. Inhibitor studies point to Rac1 as therapeutic target to prevent anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. Yet, supporting genetic evidence is still missing and the pathophysiological relevance of different cardiac cell types is unclear. Here, we employed a tamoxifen-inducible cardiomyocyte-specific rac1 knock-out mouse model (Rac1flox/flox/MHC-MerCreMer ) to investigate the impact of Rac1 expression in cardiomyocytes on cardiac injury following doxorubicin treatment...

BACKGROUND: Liraglutide is glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist for treating patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Our previous studies have demonstrated that liraglutide protects cardiac function through improving endothelial function in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The present study will investigate whether liraglutide can perform direct protective effects on cardiomyocytes against reperfusion injury. METHODS: In vitro experiments were performed using H9C2 cells and neonatal rat ventricular cadiomyocytes undergoing simulative hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) induction...

High fructose diet can cause cardiac hypertrophy and oxidative stress is a key mediator for myocardial hypertrophy. Disruption of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) leads to oxidative stress. This study aims to reveal mitochondrial oxidative stress-related signaling pathway in high fructose-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Mice were fed high fructose to develop cardiac hypertrophy. Fructose and H2 O2 were used to induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro. Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 was applied to investigate the possible role of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS)...

Myocardial damage, by different noxious causes, triggers an inflammatory reaction driving post-injury repair mechanisms and chronic remodelling processes that are largely detrimental to cardiac function. Cardiomyocytes have recently emerged as key players in orchestrating this inflammatory response. Injured cardiomyocytes release damage-associated molecular pattern molecules, such as high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), DNA fragments, heat shock proteins, and matricellular proteins, which instruct surrounding healthy cadiomyocytes to produce inflammatory mediators...

In tissue engineering, several factors play key roles in providing adequate stimuli for cells differentiation, in particular biochemical and physical stimuli, which try to mimic the physiological microenvironments. Since electrical stimuli are important in the developing heart, we have developed an easy-to-use, cost-effective cell culture platform, able to provide controlled electrical stimulation aimed at investigating the influence of the electric field in the stem cell differentiation process. This bioreactor consists of an electrical stimulator and 12 independent, petri-like culture chambers and a 3-D computational model was used to characterize the distribution and the intensity of the electric field generated in the cell culture volume...

Numerous cardiac diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic heart failure, have been associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Promoting cell survival by inhibiting apoptosis is one of the effective strategies to attenuate cardiac dysfunction caused by cardiomyocyte loss. miR-24 has been shown as an anti-apoptotic microRNA in various animal models. In vivo delivery of miR-24 into a mouse MI model suppressed cardiac cell death, attenuated infarct size, and rescued cardiac dysfunction. However, the molecular pathway by which miR-24 inhibits cardiomyocyte apoptosis is not known...

OBJECTIVE: To transfect rat adipose tissue-derived adult stem cells (ADSCs) with the pacemaker gene of human hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel 2 (hHCN2), and observe its feasibility of functioning as pacemaker cells. METHODS: First of all, healthy ADSCs were harvested and transfected with hHCN2 gene. Thereafter, we detected the expression of hHCN2 gene and protein by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence cytochemistry and measured the electrophysiological properties and recorded the inward currents using patch clamp techniques...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common inherited cardiac disorder, is characterized by increased ventricular wall thickness that cannot be explained by underlying conditions, cadiomyocyte hypertrophy and disarray, and increased myocardial fibrosis. In as many as 50% of HCM cases, the genetic cause remains unknown, suggesting that more genes may be involved. Nexilin, encoded by NEXN, is a cardiac Z-disc protein recently identified as a crucial protein that functions to protect cardiac Z-discs from forces generated within the sarcomere...

A major limitation in long-term studies of quiescent adult cadiomyocytes in culture has been the decline in contractile properties of the cells over time. Regular contracting cardiomyocyte cultures may represent a more physiological model. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanical properties and calcium handling of myocytes after 24 hours of electrical stimulation at 1 Hz. In a random and blind design, stimulated (S) and unstimulated (U) myocytes were examined using an inverted microscope which allows continuous length recordings and measurements of intracellular Ca2+...

The effect of Thapsigargin (TG) shown to block selectively the Ca(2+)-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) on the SR Ca2+ content and contractions of single rat cadiomyocytes was investigated. In 80% of cells 10(-6) M TG blocked Ca2+ uptake by SR at rest, depleted the SR Ca2+, inhibited postrest potentiation and changed the pattern of response to premature contractions. Amplitude of steady state contractions was reduced to 11 +/- 4% of pre-TG control. In 20% of cells TG had similar effect on the SR function, however, amplitude of contractions was reduced to only 50 +/- 7% of control...

Rats of both sexes were fed on a basal feed containing 1% refined konjac meal (RKM) for 18 months and the effects of RKM on the cell aging were observed. A comparable group fed on the basic feed was used as the control. Results obtained demonstrate that the long-term feeding of RKM to rats can delay the course of cell aging of the gliocyte, cadiomyocyte, and the endothelial cell of the large and medium arteriases, hence it is likely to delay the occurrence of arteriosclerosis and improve the functions of the brain, heart and vascular system...