BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) has been shown to augment mesenchymal stem cell-mediated cardioprotection during acute ischemia and reperfusion in isolated heart models. To determine whether this pretreatment strategy would be effective …

AIMS: Blockade of mineralocorticoid receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) prevents sympathetic hyperactivity and improves left ventricle (LV) function in rats post-myocardial infarction (MI). We examined whether aldosterone produced locally in the …

RATIONALE: Mechanisms underlying diastolic dysfunction need to be better understood. OBJECTIVE: To study the role of titin in diastolic dysfunction using a mouse model of experimental heart failure induced by transverse aortic constriction. METHODS AND …

The cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) is inhibited by calmodulin (CaM) and S100A1. Simultaneous substitution of three amino acid residues (W3587A, L3591D, F3603A; RyR2ADA) in the CaM binding domain of RyR2 results in loss of CaM inhibition at …

In response to stress, the heart undergoes a remodeling process associated with cardiac hypertrophy that eventually leads to heart failure. A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) have been shown to coordinate numerous prohypertrophic signaling pathways in …

The C57BL/6 mouse strain is one of the most commonly used in experimental research. It is known to differ from other strains in baseline cardiovascular phenotypes as well as in response to pressure overload induced by aortic constriction. Since the …

Sedating animals is sometimes necessary in experimental research. This paper presents and discusses the influence of four of the most common anesthetic agents on cardiovascular parameters in rats. We also studied the influence of body temperature. …

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a drug commonly used for the treatment of cancer. The development of resistance to DOX is common, and high cumulative doses cause potentially lethal cardiac side ef- fects. HO-3867 (3,5-bis(4-fluorobenzylidene)-1-[(2,2,5,5-tetra- …

Aortic aneurysm is dilation of the aorta primarily due to degradation of the aortic wall extracellular matrix (ECM). Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) inhibit matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), the proteases that degrade the ECM. Timp3 is the …

OBJECTIVE: Activation of inflammatory pathways plays a critical role in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Notch1 signaling is a significant regulator of the inflammatory response; however, its role in AAA is unknown. METHODS AND …