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 cation, K+, and Cl- SAC. Several voltage- and ligand-gated channels also are mechanosensitive....

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 to the Z line of the sarcomere, whereas myosin filaments are secured via the giant elastic...

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...

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 how mechanical loading is sensed by cardiomyocytes and converted into intracellular biomechanical...

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 overload, an activation of the sympathetic nerve system leads directly to stimulation of...

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 this chapter different manifestations of mechanotransduction are reviewed, with special...

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 being provided by the present volume of reviews. The activation of these signaling pathways is...

Cardiac overload initiates a process, which aims to maintain and adapt cardiovascular system to altered hemodynamics. In adults, myocardial mass increases mainly due to enlargement of individual myocytes (for reviews, see refs. 1,2). Cardiac pressure overload in conditions such as aortic...

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, interesting by itself, has also a medical significance because it is associated with disturbances...