Cardiac Signaling: Cellular, Molecular and Clinical Aspects

Definition

The cardiovascular system distributes oxygen and nutrients in the organism according to the demands of the environment. The required short‐ and long‐term adjustments depend on a complex system of signal transduction pathways that integrate biochemical and biomechanical cues to regulate cardiac growth and function (Fig. 1). The same signaling pathways that are essential for normal cardiac function mediate changes that accompany heart disease e.g. the hypertrophic gene response in cardiomyopathy or apoptosis in myocardial infarction. Considerable effort has been put into elucidating these pathways as a basis for developing novel therapeutic strategies.

Figure 1

Signal transduction in the cardiomyocyte. Mechanical and biochemical signals (input layer) are communicated through the action on transmembrane or intracellular receptors. In the cytoplasm multiple signal transduction pathways, such as G‐protein coupled receptor signaling, Akt/PKB signaling, mitogen activated protein...