© 2000 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cellular Biology |
Pulsatile Stretch Remodels Cell-to-Cell Communication in Cultured Myocytes
From the Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Center for Cardiovascular Research, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
Correspondence to André G. Kléber, MD, Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bühlplatz 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail kleber{at}pyl.unibe.ch
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Abstract |
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Abstract—Mechanical stretch is thought to play an important role in remodeling atrial and ventricular myocardium and may produce substrates that promote arrhythmogenesis. In the present work, neonatal rat ventricular myocytes were cultured for 4 days as confluent monolayers on thin silicone membranes and then subjected to linear pulsatile stretch for up to 6 hours. Action potential upstrokes and propagation velocity (
) were measured with multisite
optical recording of transmembrane voltage of the cells stained
with the voltage-sensitive dye RH237. Expression of the gap junction
protein connexin43 (Cx43) and the fascia adherens junction protein
N-cadherin was measured immunohistochemically in the same preparations.
Pulsatile stretch caused dramatic upregulation of intercellular
junction proteins after only 1 hour and a further increase after 6
hours (Cx43 signal increased from 0.73 to 1.86 and 2.02% cell area,
and N-cadherin signal increased from 1.21 to 2.11 and 2.74% cell area
after 1 and 6 hours, respectively). This was paralleled by an
increase in from 27 to 35 cm/s after 1 hour and 37 cm/s after 6
hours. No significant change in the upstroke velocity of the action
potential or cell size was observed. Increased and protein
expression were not reversible after 24 hours of relaxation.
Nonpulsatile (static) stretch produced qualitatively similar but
significantly smaller changes than pulsatile stretch. Thus, pulsatile
linear stretch in vitro causes marked upregulation of proteins that
form electrical and mechanical junctions, as well as a concomitant
increase in propagation velocity. These changes may contribute to
arrhythmogenesis in myocardium exposed to acute
stretch.
Key Words: remodeling • stretch • connexin43 • conduction velocity
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Introduction |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionReferences |
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Cardiac hypertrophy and failure are known to interfere with normal electrical function, and the associated increased incidence of sudden death is related to ventricular arrhythmias.1 2 3 Several mechanisms may underlie altered electrical function and arrhythmogenesis such as ectopic impulse generation due to early and delayed afterdepolarizations and circus movement re-entry due to disturbances in impulse conduction and heterogeneity in repolarization.4 5 6 Altered cell-to-cell coupling in hypertrophy and failure is predicted to have an impact on both heterogeneous repolarization and impulse conduction. The proteins involved in electrical and metabolic cell-to-cell communication appear to be affected in a complex way by hypertrophy and failure. Early mediators of myocardial hypertrophy, such as cAMP7 and angiotensin II,8 have been shown to increase cell-to-cell coupling in cultured myocytes within 24 hours, which suggests that cell-to-cell electrical coupling might be upregulated in early stages of hypertrophy. Early upregulation of cardiac gap junction proteins was indeed observed in renovascular hypertension.9 In later stages of experimental and clinical cardiac failure, electrical cell-to-cell coupling has been shown to decrease.9 10 11
Mechanical stretch is thought to play an important role in the remodeling of the cardiac phenotype, and a number of studies have characterized the response of cultured myocytes to mechanical stretch. For example, static 10% stretch of randomly oriented neonatal rat myocytes increases proto-oncogene and contractile protein expression and stimulates signaling pathways, including those involving tyrosine kinases, Ras/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways, protein kinase C, and phospholipases C and D.12 13 14 15 Recent studies by Seko et al16 have demonstrated that pulsatile stretch (PS) activates all 3 MAP kinase family members by mechanisms mediated, in part, by autocrine release of vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth factor-ß. Because many of the responses to mechanical stretch by neonatal rat cardiac myocytes in vitro seem to recapitulate features of the hypertrophic response, in vitro stretch appears to be a good model of cardiac responses to overload in vivo.
Our laboratory has developed a technique for growing myocytes on substrates that are accessible for multiple-site optical recording of transmembrane potential.17 In the present study, this technique was applied to cells grown on transparent silicon membranes (kindly provided by Dr Frank Yin, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo). In this way, the effects of acute PS on transmembrane action potentials and conduction velocity were compared with changes in expression of the major cardiac gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43) and the fascia adherens junction protein N-cadherin in the same preparations. Our results indicate that PS induces marked upregulation in expression of proteins responsible for electrical and mechanical cell-to-cell coupling with a concomitant increase in conduction velocity within 1 hour.
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Materials and Methods |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionReferences |
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Stretch Apparatus
The custom-designed and custom-fabricated device used for the application of linear PS on cultured cardiac myocytes is illustrated in Figure 1
. The lateral borders of a
rectangular sheet of silicone membrane (thickness 0.01 inch) were fixed
to Teflon bars that could move freely in the x direction
along 2 stainless steel axes. The 2 bars were in contact with an
elliptical Teflon wheel mounted in the center of the device. The
silicone membrane was cut to a length that produced tension slightly
above the slack length when the short diameter of the wheel was in
contact with the Teflon bars. The 1.1/1 ratio of the long to the short
diameter of the elliptical wheel produced stretch of 10% during a
90° rotation of the wheel. The frequency of the stretch pulsations
(half a wheel cycle) was monitored by a photodiode mounted on the
stretch apparatus and controlled from outside the tissue
culture incubator. A stretch frequency of 3 Hz was used in the
present experiments. Transverse compression (shrinkage) in the
y direction during linear stretch in the x
direction was prevented by attaching 2 clamps that stretched the
membranes slightly along the transverse central axis. Cells were
cultured in a chamber created by fixing a ring of silicone tubing
(thickness 2 mm, diameter 24 mm) at the center of the
membrane with silicone sealant. Uniformity of stretch in the culture
area was determined in the presence of the silicone ring during stretch
periods of up to 72 hours and amounted to 10±1%. Transverse
deformation of the membrane at maximal longitudinal stretch was <1%.
Hence, stretch was uniaxial.
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Cell Cultures
Primary cultures of 1- to 2-day-old neonatal rat
ventricular myocytes were prepared as reported
previously.17 Cells were cultured in M199 (GIBCO)
supplemented with penicillin (20 U/mL), streptomycin (20 µg/mL),
vitamin B12 (2 µg/mL), and 10% neonatal calf serum. The cell
suspension was preplated to reduce the fibroblast content.
Epinephrine (0.01 µmol in 1-mL cell suspension) was
added to the medium during the first 72 hours of culture. The silicone
membranes were coated with collagen IV18 before cell
seeding to ensure adhesion of the cells to the membrane and growth of
dense cultures devoid of large intercellular clefts. Cells were grown
in a random orientation (so-called isotropic growth18 )
and kept in an incubator at 35°C in a humidified atmosphere
containing 0.07% CO2.
Optical Mapping and Analysis of
Propagation
The technique of multiple-site optical recording of
transmembrane potential and the staining of cell cultures with the
voltage-sensitive dye RH237 have been described in detail
elsewhere.19 The cultures were stimulated at a site
located >1 mm from the recording site, and isochronal
maps were calculated as previously described.20
Experimental Procedure
After seeding and preplating, cultures were incubated for 4
days. Thereafter, the culture medium was replaced with medium
containing 5% FCS every 24 to 48 hours. Cultures were then subjected
to controlled pulsatile linear stretch for test periods of 1, 3, or 6
hours. Each series of experiments was performed on 8 to 12 cultures
derived from 1 cell suspension. In each series, half of the cultures
were exposed to test conditions, and the other half served as controls.
After each test period, the silicone membranes were stabilized in the
0%-stretch position within a metal frame, removed from the stretch
apparatus, and brought to the stage of an inverted
microscope for optical mapping. The specific sites of optical mapping
analysis in each membrane were noted by placing a small notch
at one edge of the membrane and devising an (x,
y) coordinate system, with the notch
representing the top of the y axis. In each
case, most of the optical measurements were made within a single
quadrant within 3x3 mm of the center of the membrane. At the
completion of optical mapping analysis, the cultures were
processed for immunohistochemistry. In some series, all cultures were
stretched for 6 hours. Half of the cultures were then fixed and
analyzed by immunohistochemistry, whereas the other half were
allowed to recover from stretch and were analyzed 24 hours
later. Several control experiments were carried out. First, PS was
compared with nonpulsatile stretch for a period of 6 hours. In a second
series, the spontaneous changes in electrical activity and expression
levels of intercellular junction proteins occurring between 4 and 5
days of culture were determined.
Immunohistochemistry
Myocytes on silicone membranes were fixed in 4%
paraformaldehyde in PBS for 15 minutes and rinsed 3
times in PBS. Each membrane was cut into quadrants using the notch as a
guide. The quadrant (3x3 mm) containing all or most of the
optical recording sites was immunostained using an
affinity-purified polyclonal rabbit anti-Cx43 antiserum (Zymed) diluted
1:200 in a blocking buffer composed of PBS containing 0.1% Triton
X-100, 3% normal goat serum, and 1% BSA. Another quadrant containing
all or most of the remaining optical recording sites was
immunostained with a polyclonal rabbit antiserum against a
conserved sequence in the N-cadherins (Sigma) diluted 1:400 in blocking
buffer. All immunostaining procedures, including the
use of controls for nonspecific binding, have been described in detail
in a previous report.21 Immunostained cells
were mounted on glass slides and examined with a Sarastro model 2000
laser scanning confocal microscope (Molecular Dynamics).
Confocal Microscopy
Clusters of myocytes immunostained with antibodies
against either Cx43 or N-cadherins were identified in each membrane,
corresponding to the approximate locations of previous multiple site
optical recordings of transmembrane potential. Five high-power
fields in each membrane were examined by fluorescence
microscopy at a magnification of x400 as previously
described.21 The proportion of total cell area occupied by
Cx43 or N-cadherin immunoreactive signal was defined as the number of
high signal–intensity pixels divided by the total number of pixels
occupied by cells. The total number and mean size of individual spots
of high-intensity signal, operationally defined as individual gap
junctions or fascia adherens junctions in cells stained with anti-Cx43
or anti–N-cadherin antibodies, respectively, was measured according to
methods described and validated in previous studies.21 The
5 individual values for percentage of cell area occupied by
immunoreactive signal, as well as the number and size of gap junctions
and fascia adherens junctions, were averaged to yield single values of
each parameter for each membrane.
Measurement of Cell and Nuclear Size
A quadrant of the silicone membrane not used for
immunostaining was analyzed by light microscopy
in selected control and stretched preparations to determine whether PS
led to changes in cell or nuclear size. The cells were stained with 1%
toluidine blue/methylene blue. In each culture, 2 fields of myocytes,
similar to those analyzed by optical mapping and
immunohistochemistry in other quadrants of the same membrane, were
photographed at a final print magnification of x800. The areas of
individual cells and nuclei were measured using computer-assisted
planimetry and averaged for each culture.
Statistical Analysis
Data are expressed as mean±SD. Optical mapping data, confocal
microscopy data, and measurements of cell and nuclear areas were
analyzed by 1-way ANOVA (SigmaStat). The nonpaired Student
t test was used to compare data obtained at a given test
condition with control data. P
0.05 was considered
significant.
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Results |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionReferences |
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Effect of PS on the Transmembrane Action Potential Upstroke and Propagation Velocity
PS was associated with a marked and rapid effect on electrical activity. The results recorded in 4 culture dishes from the same batch are illustrated in Figure 2
. The
top panel of Figure 2 shows the transmembrane action potential
upstrokes recorded before PS from 96 sites. The corresponding
isochronal map is depicted in the bottom left panel. The bottom
right panel illustrates an isochronal map calculated after 6 hours
of PS. Mean conduction velocity, , and mean values of the maximal
upstroke velocities (dV/dt)max in each field of
vision were calculated from 8 to 10 randomly selected sites, and the
values for each culture dish were calculated from the means determined
in 4 to 5 fields of vision. As illustrated by the increase in the
spacing of the isochrones in Figure 2 and the data shown in
Figure 3 and Table 1, propagation velocity increased
significantly from 27 cm/s (control) to 35 cm/s (1-hour PS) and 37 cm/s
(6-hour PS). The control value for of 27 cm/s in the isotropic
cultures corresponded to the 25 cm/s previously reported from cell
cultures grown on glass substrates.18 The upstroke
velocity of the action potential, (dV/dt)max,
increased slightly from 126% action potential amplitude (APA)/ms
(corresponding to V/s at an APA of 100 mV17 ) to 134%
APA/ms during the 6 hours of PS. No dependence of propagation on the
direction of stretch could be detected. Control experiments involving
up to 72 hours of PS and comparison of propagation parallel and
perpendicular to the stretch axis revealed purely isotropic propagation
(J. Zhuang and A.G. Kléber, personal communication, April
2000).
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Effect of PS on Cx43 Expression
Representative confocal images of Cx43
immunohistochemical staining are shown in Figure 4, and group data are shown in Table 1
(top) and Figure 5. As observed
in previous studies, gap junctions in cultured neonatal rat
ventricular myocytes are distributed in a "neonatal"
pattern characterized by a regular distribution of small dotlike
junctions around the cell perimeter.20 This pattern was
confirmed in the present experiments and did not change during 6
hours of directed PS. However, a significant and marked increase in the
amount of Cx43 immunoreactive signal was observed between control and 1
hour of PS and continued for up to 6 hours of PS. Cx43 signal increased
by 
3-fold after 6 hours. This was due mainly to an increase in the
number of discrete spots of signal in the confocal images, which were
operationally defined as individual gap junctions. In contrast, the
mean size of an individual gap junction increased only slightly and
reached statistical significance only after 6 hours of PS (Table 1, top). Control experiments comparing ,
(dV/dt)max, and Cx43 signal in cells grown in
culture for 4 or 5 days (without PS) revealed no differences. This
demonstrated that no stretch-independent changes in the above
parameters occurred during this stage of growth.
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Effect of PS on N-Cadherin Expression and Cell Size
It has been shown recently that formation of new cell-to-cell
junctions in myocyte cultures typically involves initial formation of
mechanical junctions after which gap junctions containing connexins
appear.22 In the present experiments, the question
whether mechanical and electrical junctions would be affected by
stretch in a similar way was addressed. As shown in Figure 6, the amount of
N-cadherin–immunoreactive signal was increased in cells subjected to
PS with a time course similar to that seen for Cx43 signal. Double
immunolabeling showed an intimate spatial relationship between sites of
electrical and mechanical junctions that were closely interspersed in
regions of the junctional membrane without dependence of upregulation
on stretch direction.
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Light microscopic measurements of cell and nuclear size revealed no
differences between control cultures and cultures subjected to PS for 6
hours (Table 2). However,
comparison of the angle between the longest cell axis and the direction
of stretch showed a slight cell alignment after 6 hours of PS
(53±21° in control versus 39±20°, n=108;
P<0.001).
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Reversibility of Stretch-Induced Changes and Effect of Pulsatile
Versus Nonpulsatile Stretch
Cultured cells were subjected to either 6 hours of PS or 6 hours
of PS followed by 24 hours of relaxation. As shown in Table 1,
bottom, changes in conduction velocity, Cx43 immunoreactive signal, and
gap junction number caused by 6 hours of PS were not significantly
reversed after 24 hours of relaxation.
Nonpulsatile stretch, produced by turning the elliptic wheel (Figure
1) 90° from its rest position to a steady-state position
causing static 10% stretch, changed both propagation velocity and Cx43
immunoreactive signal. After 6 hours, propagation velocity increased
from 30±3 to 34±2 cm/s, and Cx43 immunoreactive signal from
0.94±0.03% to 1.59±0.03% cell area (n=7; P<0.01). Thus,
the changes seen with static stretch were smaller than those caused by
an equivalent interval of PS.
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Discussion |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionReferences |
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Our results indicate that linear PS of 10% resting length produced marked upregulation of Cx43 and N-cadherin in intercellular junctions within 1 hour. A further increase was observed after 6 hours. This upregulation corresponded to an increase in propagation velocity, measured in the same preparations. This indicates that most of the gap junction protein newly integrated into the cell membrane contributed to cell-to-cell transmission of electrical current. Recently, upregulation of Cx43 protein determined by Western blotting was reported after only 4 hours of 20% PS.23 Changes in intercellular connections in hypertrophy and failure, conditions associated with increased ventricular mechanical load, appear to be complex. In the early stages of ventricular hypertrophy, results obtained from cell cultures have shown upregulation of Cx43 expression and gap junctions induced by early mediators of hypertrophy, such as cAMP7 and angiotensin II.8 In the late stage of cardiac failure, conduction velocity and most likely connexin expression are downregulated.10
The techniques used in these studies allowed (1) measurement of changes in proteins forming both mechanical and electrical junctions and (2) direct association of the molecular findings with changes in function. The relationship between formation of mechanical and electrical junctions is of potential importance, because it was recently shown that reestablishment of cell-to-cell contacts requires formation of mechanical junctions before electrical junctions can be assembled.22 In accordance with these results, our data show a close association between regulation of the 2 types of junctions during mechanical stretch. The question of whether concomitant changes in different types of cell-to-cell contacts are regulated by a common signaling pathway awaits further investigation.
Although upregulation of Cx43 expression and a marked increase in gap junction number were prominent features of short-term stretch, other mechanisms could have contributed to the observed increase in propagation velocity. A first factor relates to upregulation of other connexins. Indeed, upregulation of Cx45 (protein and mRNA) was shown to follow application of dibutyryl cAMP concomitantly with Cx43. Whether upregulation of Cx45 or other connexins occurs with PS remains to be shown. A second factor, which is likely to play a role after long-term stimulation and which was ruled out in the present experiments, is a change in cell size and shape. An increase in cell size would be expected to increase conduction velocity.24 Although a small alignment of cells was observed after 6 hours of PS, even prolonged stretch up to 72 hours did not induce electrical anisotropy in the present experiments. A third potential factor relates to the possible upregulation of Na+ channels carrying the main electrical charge during the action potential upstroke. Although a contribution of enhanced Na+ channel activity to our results cannot be ruled out, the lack of a significant change in upstroke velocity during short-term PS suggests that this contribution was not substantial.
A semiquantitative relationship between the resistance of the
intracellular space of a cellular network,
ri, and propagation velocity, , in
electrically continuous tissue is given by
2~1/ri.24 25
In this relationship, the sum of cytoplasmic and gap junctional
resistances is the main resistive element determining conduction
velocity.19 24 If it is assumed that the increase in Cx43
immunoreactive signal is proportional to the increase in gap junctional
conductance, a 2.5-fold increase in signal after 1-hour stretch in Cx43
signal would lead to a 27% increase in , and a 3-fold increase
would correspond to a 32% increase. These theoretically estimated
increases in conduction velocity are close to the experimentally
determined values of 27% and 39%, respectively. A similar close
correlation was observed in cultured myocytes in which upregulation of
Cx43 was induced by dibutyryl cAMP.7 The observations in
the present study suggest that most of the immunoreactive Cx43 was
present in electrically functional gap junctions and any
contribution of a change in depolarizing
INa was less important.
Two additional observations regarding the stretch effects are worth noting. First, the changes induced by PS were only slightly reversible after 24 hours of relaxation. Second, static stretch of the same amount (10%) and duration (6 hours) caused qualitatively similar but quantitatively smaller changes. The reversibility of stretch-induced changes has not been studied systematically, although Yamazaki et al26 have reported that activation of MAP kinase activity in cultured myocytes subjected to 20% static stretch is greater after 2 minutes of stretch than after 2 minutes of stretch and 6 minutes of relaxation. Increasing evidence suggests that pulsatile and static stretch may activate different signaling pathways. For example, activation of extracellular signal–regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/ERK2 by PS appears to be mediated, in part, by vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth factor-ß but not by angiotensin II or endothelin.16 In contrast, autocrine release of angiotensin II and endothelin mediates activation of intracellular signaling in myocytes subjected to static stretch.27 28 The signaling pathways mediating the effects of PS on expression of intercellular junction proteins have not been defined. Nor is it clear whether accumulation of protein in intercellular junctions was due to increased synthesis, decreased degradation, enhanced translocation of intracellular protein to cell surface junctions, or a combination of these mechanisms. It was recently reported, however, that Cx43 mRNA levels increased after 4 hours of 20% PS.23
Differences observed in the magnitude of changes induced by pulsatile and static stretch in the present study might be related to the superimposition of PS at 3 Hz on spontaneous electrical excitation and/or to modulation of background spontaneous electrical activity. A recent report indicates that incorporation of [3H]leucine and activation of p44/42 MAP kinase and phosphorylation of its upstream activator MAP/ERK1 and -2 were significantly greater in cultured myocytes subjected to 4% stretch during systole than during diastole, whereas stretch-induced activation of p38 MAP kinase and c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK) did not depend on the timing of stretch with respect to the cardiac cycle.29
In summary, our results demonstrate that PS induces rapid changes in expression of proteins responsible for electrical and mechanical cell-to-cell communication associated with a marked increase in impulse propagation velocity. An increase in electrical cell-to-cell coupling can increase the discontinuous nature of propagation and thereby contribute to formation of unidirectional block and arrhythmia initiation.30
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation,
the Swiss Heart Foundation, and National Institutes of Health Grant
HL50598. We acknowledge the assistance of Karen Green, Lilly
Bircher-Lehmann, and Jürg Burkhalter.
Received March 23, 2000; revision received June 23, 2000; accepted June 23, 2000.
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 K. A. Addae-Mensah and J. P. Wikswo Measurement Techniques for Cellular Biomechanics In Vitro Experimental Biology and Medicine, July 1, 2008; 233(7): 792 - 809. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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T. Sato, T. Ohkusa, H. Honjo, S. Suzuki, M.-a. Yoshida, Y. S. Ishiguro, H. Nakagawa, M. Yamazaki, M. Yano, I. Kodama, et al. Altered expression of connexin43 contributes to the arrhythmogenic substrate during the development of heart failure in cardiomyopathic hamster Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, March 1, 2008; 294(3): H1164 - H1173. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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C. M. Ripplinger, W. Li, J. Hadley, J. Chen, F. Rothenberg, R. Lombardi, S. A. Wickline, A. J. Marian, and I. R. Efimov Enhanced Transmural Fiber Rotation and Connexin 43 Heterogeneity Are Associated With an Increased Upper Limit of Vulnerability in a Transgenic Rabbit Model of Human Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Circ. Res., November 9, 2007; 101(10): 1049 - 1057. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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W. F. Liu, C. M. Nelson, J. L. Tan, and C. S. Chen Cadherins, RhoA, and Rac1 Are Differentially Required for Stretch-Mediated Proliferation in Endothelial Versus Smooth Muscle Cells Circ. Res., August 31, 2007; 101(5): e44 - e52. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 K. K Parker and D. E Ingber Extracellular matrix, mechanotransduction and structural hierarchies in heart tissue engineering Phil Trans R Soc B, August 29, 2007; 362(1484): 1267 - 1279. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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N. S. Peters Gap Junctions: Clarifying the Complexities of Connexins and Conduction Circ. Res., November 24, 2006; 99(11): 1156 - 1158. [Full Text] [PDF]
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J. A. Barrabes, D. Garcia-Dorado, L. Agullo, A. Rodriguez-Sinovas, F. Padilla, L. Trobo, and J. Soler-Soler Intracoronary infusion of Gd3+ into ischemic region does not suppress phase Ib ventricular arrhythmias after coronary occlusion in swine Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, June 1, 2006; 290(6): H2344 - H2350. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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M. Hoshijima Mechanical stress-strain sensors embedded in cardiac cytoskeleton: Z disk, titin, and associated structures Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, April 1, 2006; 290(4): H1313 - H1325. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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A. M. Samarel Costameres, focal adhesions, and cardiomyocyte mechanotransduction Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, December 1, 2005; 289(6): H2291 - H2301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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Y. D. Barac, N. Zeevi-Levin, G. Yaniv, I. Reiter, F. Milman, M. Shilkrut, R. Coleman, Z. Abassi, and O. Binah The 1,4,5-inositol trisphosphate pathway is a key component in Fas-mediated hypertrophy in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes Cardiovasc Res, October 1, 2005; 68(1): 75 - 86. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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K. Yamada, K. G. Green, A. M. Samarel, and J. E. Saffitz Distinct Pathways Regulate Expression of Cardiac Electrical and Mechanical Junction Proteins in Response to Stretch Circ. Res., August 19, 2005; 97(4): 346 - 353. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 J.-G. Yu and B. Russell Cardiomyocyte Remodeling and Sarcomere Addition after Uniaxial Static Strain In Vitro J. Histochem. Cytochem., July 1, 2005; 53(7): 839 - 844. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. D. Spragg, F. G. Akar, R. H. Helm, R. S. Tunin, G. F. Tomaselli, and D. A. Kass Abnormal conduction and repolarization in late-activated myocardium of dyssynchronously contracting hearts Cardiovasc Res, July 1, 2005; 67(1): 77 - 86. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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N. Zeevi-Levin, Y. D. Barac, Y. Reisner, I. Reiter, G. Yaniv, G. Meiry, Z. Abassi, S. Kostin, J. Schaper, M. R. Rosen, et al. Gap junctional remodeling by hypoxia in cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes Cardiovasc Res, April 1, 2005; 66(1): 64 - 73. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. D. Spragg and D. A. Kass Controlling the Gap: Myocytes, Matrix, and Mechanics Circ. Res., March 18, 2005; 96(5): 485 - 487. [Full Text] [PDF]
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A. J. Shanker, K. Yamada, K. G. Green, K. A. Yamada, and J. E. Saffitz Matrix Protein-Specific Regulation of Cx43 Expression in Cardiac Myocytes Subjected to Mechanical Load Circ. Res., March 18, 2005; 96(5): 558 - 566. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 B. E.J. Teunissen, H. J. Jongsma, and M. F.A. Bierhuizen Regulation of myocardial connexins during hypertrophic remodelling Eur. Heart J., November 2, 2004; 25(22): 1979 - 1989. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. Beauchamp, C. Choby, T. Desplantez, K. de Peyer, K. Green, K. A. Yamada, R. Weingart, J. E. Saffitz, and A. G. Kleber Electrical Propagation in Synthetic Ventricular Myocyte Strands From Germline Connexin43 Knockout Mice Circ. Res., July 23, 2004; 95(2): 170 - 178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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S. Poelzing, F. G. Akar, E. Baron, and D. S. Rosenbaum Heterogeneous connexin43 expression produces electrophysiological heterogeneities across ventricular wall Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, May 1, 2004; 286(5): H2001 - H2009. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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S. Kostin, S. Dammer, S. Hein, W. P Klovekorn, E. P Bauer, and J. Schaper Connexin 43 expression and distribution in compensated and decompensated cardiac hypertrophy in patients with aortic stenosis Cardiovasc Res, May 1, 2004; 62(2): 426 - 436. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 A. G. KLEBER and Y. RUDY Basic Mechanisms of Cardiac Impulse Propagation and Associated Arrhythmias Physiol Rev, April 1, 2004; 84(2): 431 - 488. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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J. E. Saffitz and A. G. Kleber Effects of Mechanical Forces and Mediators of Hypertrophy on Remodeling of Gap Junctions in the Heart Circ. Res., March 19, 2004; 94(5): 585 - 591. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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H. Mansour, P. P. de Tombe, A. M. Samarel, and B. Russell Restoration of Resting Sarcomere Length After Uniaxial Static Strain Is Regulated by Protein Kinase C{epsilon} and Focal Adhesion Kinase Circ. Res., March 19, 2004; 94(5): 642 - 649. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 M. R. Rosen, O. Binah, and S. Marom Cardiac Memory and Cortical Memory: Do Learning Patterns in Neural Networks Impact on Cardiac Arrhythmias? Circulation, October 14, 2003; 108(15): 1784 - 1789. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. Kohl Heterogeneous Cell Coupling in the Heart: An Electrophysiological Role for Fibroblasts Circ. Res., September 5, 2003; 93(5): 381 - 383. [Full Text] [PDF]
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A. G. Kleber Cell-to-Cell Coupling Between Host and Donor Cells in the In Situ Myocardium Circ. Res., June 13, 2003; 92(11): 1176 - 1178. [Full Text] [PDF]
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S. P. Thomas, J. P. Kucera, L. Bircher-Lehmann, Y. Rudy, J. E. Saffitz, and A. G. Kleber Impulse Propagation in Synthetic Strands of Neonatal Cardiac Myocytes With Genetically Reduced Levels of Connexin43 Circ. Res., June 13, 2003; 92(11): 1209 - 1216. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 D. E. Gutstein, F.-y. Liu, M. B. Meyers, A. Choo, and G. I. Fishman The organization of adherens junctions and desmosomes at the cardiac intercalated disc is independent of gap junctions J. Cell Sci., March 1, 2003; 116(5): 875 - 885. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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I. Kehat, A. Gepstein, A. Spira, J. Itskovitz-Eldor, and L. Gepstein High-Resolution Electrophysiological Assessment of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes: A Novel In Vitro Model for the Study of Conduction Circ. Res., October 18, 2002; 91(8): 659 - 661. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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J. Ausma and M. Borgers Dedifferentiation of atrial cardiomyocytes: from in vivo to in vitro Cardiovasc Res, July 1, 2002; 55(1): 9 - 12. [Full Text] [PDF]
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 K. Oahara, Y. Miyauchi, T. Ohara, M. C. Fishbein, S. Zhou, M.-H. Lee, W. J. Mandel, P.-S. Chen, and H. S. Karagueuzian Downregulation of Immunodetectable Atrial Connexin4O in a Canine Model of Chronic Left Ventricular Myocardial Infarction: Implications to Atrial Fibrillation Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, June 1, 2002; 7(2): 89 - 94. [Abstract] [PDF]
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R. C. Pimentel, K. A. Yamada, A. G. Kleber, and J. E. Saffitz Autocrine Regulation of Myocyte Cx43 Expression by VEGF Circ. Res., April 5, 2002; 90(6): 671 - 677. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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Members of the Sicilian Gambit New Approaches to Antiarrhythmic Therapy, Part II: Emerging Therapeutic Applications of the Cell Biology of Cardiac Arrhythmias Circulation, December 11, 2001; 104(24): 2990 - 2994. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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Members of the Sicilian Gambit New approaches to antiarrhythmic therapy; emerging therapeutic applications of the cell biology of cardiac arrhythmias Eur. Heart J., December 1, 2001; 22(23): 2148 - 2163. [Abstract] [PDF]
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Members of the Sicilian Gambit New approaches to antiarrhythmic therapy: emerging therapeutic applications of the cell biology of cardiac arrhythmias Cardiovasc Res, December 1, 2001; 52(3): 345 - 360. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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T. A.B. van Veen, H. V.M. van Rijen, and T. Opthof Cardiac gap junction channels: modulation of expression and channel properties Cardiovasc Res, August 1, 2001; 51(2): 217 - 229. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. L Lerner, M. A Beardslee, and J. E Saffitz The role of altered intercellular coupling in arrhythmias induced by acute myocardial ischemia Cardiovasc Res, May 1, 2001; 50(2): 263 - 269. [Full Text] [PDF]
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G. E. Morley and J. Jalife Cardiac Gap Junction Remodeling by Stretch : Is It a Good Thing? Circ. Res., August 18, 2000; 87(4): 272 - 274. [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. Vaidya, H. S. Tamaddon, C. W. Lo, S. M. Taffet, M. Delmar, G. E. Morley, and J. Jalife Null Mutation of Connexin43 Causes Slow Propagation of Ventricular Activation in the Late Stages of Mouse Embryonic Development Circ. Res., June 8, 2001; 88(11): 1196 - 1202. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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R. C. Pimentel, K. A. Yamada, A. G. Kleber, and J. E. Saffitz Autocrine Regulation of Myocyte Cx43 Expression by VEGF Circ. Res., April 5, 2002; 90(6): 671 - 677. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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