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The ECM-Integrin-Cytoskeletal Link: A Possible Site for Mechanical Signaling in the Heart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

L. Terracio ,
W. Carver ,
R.L. Price ,
R. Salters  and
D.G. Simpson
L. Terracio
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208
W. Carver
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208
R.L. Price
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208
R. Salters
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208
D.G. Simpson
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298
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Extract

The cardiac interstitium is a diverse system of extracellular-matrix (ECM) components organized into a stress tolerant three-dimensional network that interconnects the cellular components of the heart. During each contraction of the heart, a complex set of mechanical forces is transmitted through the cardiac interstitium and is applied to the cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts. In comparison to the relaxed heart, each contractile wave results in a rapid reorganization of the extracellular matrix and cell cytoskeleton. A number of studies have shown that by varying the normal pattern of applied mechanical force that occurs during heart contraction, both the phenotype and function of myocytes and fibroblasts in the heart may be altered.

At the molecular level components of the ECM are attached to the cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts via specific transmembrane integrin receptors. Each integrin is comprised of an extracellular domain that attaches to an ECM component, and an intracellular domain that attaches to a cytoplasmic component of the cell.

Type
Imaging of Vascular Disorders
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 6 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2000, Microscopy Society of America 58th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 34th Annual Meeting, Microscopical Society of Canada/Societe de Microscopie de Canada 27th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-17, 2000 , August 2000 , pp. 542 - 543
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

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