PMID: 15222248Jun 30, 2004Paper

Calcium kinetics in the progression of heart failure

Revista Portuguesa De Cardiologia : Orgão Oficial Da Sociedade Portuguesa De Cardiologia = Portuguese Journal of Cardiology : an Official Journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology
Roberto Roncon-Albuquerque Júnior, Adelino F Leite-Moreira

Abstract

The heart has the basic function of pumping blood continuously to the whole body, alternating periods of systole, when it ejects blood, with periods of diastole, when it fills. These mechanical phenomena are strictly regulated by cardiomyocyte physiology, in which calcium (Ca2+) kinetics has a critical role. In fact, Ca2+ influx during the action potential and consequent Ca2+ outflow from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) are essential for myofilament activation--excitation-contraction coupling--whereas Ca2+ reuptake to the SR and extracellular space is crucial for relaxation--inactivation-relaxation coupling. However, it is known that in heart failure progression the expression of genes that code for proteins involved in the regulation of cardiomyocyte Ca2+ homeostasis is profoundly disturbed. In particular, the decreased expression of SERCA2a, the main protein implicated in Ca2+ reuptake during relaxation, is established in the failing human heart. These molecular disturbances lead to cardiomyocyte contractile failure and to systolic and diastolic dysfunction of the heart. The functional and molecular characterization of heart failure progression enables a better understanding of its pathophysiology and the definition of new th...Continue Reading

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