Myocardial infarction is one of the primary causes of mortality in patients with coronary heart
disease worldwide. Early treatment of acute myocardial infarction restores blood supply of …

Synchronized SR calcium (Ca) release is critical to normal cardiac myocyte excitation-
contraction coupling, and ideally this release shuts off completely between heartbeats …

Normal cardiac function requires that intracellular Ca2+ concentration be reduced to low
levels in diastole so that the ventricle can relax and refill with blood. Heart failure is often …

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is commonly associated with heart failure. A bidirectional relationship
exists between the two—AF exacerbates heart failure causing a significant increase in heart …

Rationale: The organization of the transverse-tubular (tt) system and relationship to the
sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) underpins cardiac excitation–contraction coupling. The …

Abstract Runt-related transcription factor-1 (RUNX1), also known as acute myeloid
leukaemia 1 protein (AML1), is a member of the core-binding factor family of transcription …

Key points• Ageing is associated with increased risk of sudden cardiac death due to
malignant arrhythmias.• Shortened refractoriness of Ca2+ release due to increased activity …

Calcium dynamics is central in cardiac physiology, as the key event leading to the excitation-
contraction coupling (ECC) and relaxation processes. The primary function of Ca2+ in the …

Background There are several mechanisms, including inflammation, oxidative stress and
abnormal calcium homeostasis, involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. In diabetes …

Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is the application of nonexcitatory electrical signals
to the myocardium, during the absolute refractory period of the action potential, to elicit a …