Gap junctional regulation of pressure, fluid force, and electrical fields in the epigenetics of cardiac morphogenesis and remodeling

Epigenetic factors of pressure load, fluid force, and electrical fields that occur during cardiac contraction affect cardiac development, morphology, function, and pathogenesis. These factors are orchestrated by intercellular communication mediated by gap junctions, which synchronize action potentia...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Life sciences (1973) 2015-05, Vol.129, p.27-34
Main Authors: Seki, Akiko, Nishii, Kiyomasa, Hagiwara, Nobuhisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blood Pressure - physiology
Connexins - genetics
Connexins - metabolism
Electromagnetic Fields
Epigenesis, Genetic - physiology
Gap junction
Gap Junctions - physiology
Heart
Heart - embryology
Humans
Models, Cardiovascular
Morphogenesis
Morphogenesis - physiology
Myocardial Contraction - physiology
Remodeling
Ventricular Remodeling - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Epigenetic factors of pressure load, fluid force, and electrical fields that occur during cardiac contraction affect cardiac development, morphology, function, and pathogenesis. These factors are orchestrated by intercellular communication mediated by gap junctions, which synchronize action potentials and second messengers. Misregulation of the gap junction protein connexin (Cx) alters cardiogenesis, and can be a pathogenic factor causing cardiac conduction disturbance, fatal arrhythmia, and cardiac remodeling in disease states such as hypertension and ischemia. Changes in Cx expression can occur even when the DNA sequence of the Cx gene itself is unaltered. Posttranslational modifications might reduce arrhythmogenic substrates, improve cardiac function, and promote remodeling in a diseased heart. In this review, we discuss the epigenetic features of gap junctions that regulate cardiac morphology and remodeling. We further discuss potential clinical applications of current knowledge of the structure and function of gap junctions. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0024-3205
1879-0631
DOI:10.1016/j.lfs.2014.10.022