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Apoptosis in ventricular myocytes: the role of tumor suppressor proteins

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Abstract

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is an important physiologic event crucial for the selective removal of damaged or unwanted cells from body tissues. In the cardiovascular system, apoptosis has been observed in the vasculature and myocardium. Untimely or inappropriate myocardial cell loss through an apoptotic process may contribute to ventricular remodeling and the ultimate demise of ventricular function following injury. Therapeutic interventions designed to modulate or prevent myocardial apoptotic cell loss may therefore prove beneficial in maintaining cardiac function. Incite into the molecular mechanisms that govern apoptosis in mammalian cells has led to the identification of several key factors that promote or prevent the apoptotic process. In this report, we discuss putative regulators of cardiac cell apoptosis with specific reference to the tumor suppressor proteins, p53 and Rb. The interplay between these factors, as well as the anti-apoptotic molecules related to the Bcl-2 the family are discussed in the context of the heart under normal and disease conditions.

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  1. The Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, and the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2H 2A6

    K. Regula & L. A. Kirshenbaum

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Regula, K., Kirshenbaum, L.A. Apoptosis in ventricular myocytes: the role of tumor suppressor proteins. Apoptosis 4, 229–234 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009640124029

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