The traditional concept of the heart as a terminally differentiated postmitotic organ has been largely based on an influential study published in 1925 that reported the paucity or near-absence of cell division and mitosis in the human heart, which was in striking contrast with the regenerative capacity of eg, liver tissue.1 Additional arguments thought to support this concept are the absence of...

OBJECTIVE The ventricular mass is organized in the form of meshwork, with populations of myocytes aggregated in a supporting matrix of fibrous tissue, with some myocytes aligned obliquely across the wall so as to work in an antagonistic fashion compared to the majority of myocytes, which are aggregated together in tangential alignment. Prompted by results from animal experiments, which showed a...

The systolic and diastolic properties of single myocytes and intact papillary muscles isolated from hearts of adult rats and rabbits were examined at 37 degrees C over a range of stimulation frequencies and bathing [Ca2+]o (Cao). In both rabbit myocytes and intact muscles bathed in 1 mM Cao, increasing the frequency of stimulation from 6 to 120 min-1 resulted in a positive staircase of twitch p...

OBJECTIVE It was the aim of our study to describe repolarizing currents in ventricular myocytes isolated from children with tetralogy of Fallot. This is the first report on outward currents in ventricular myocytes from children. METHODS Ventricular myocytes were isolated from tissue samples of the outflow tract of the right ventricle which were obtained during corrective surgery of tetralogy ...

BACKGROUND Mechanical dilation of the human ventricle is known to induce arrhythmias, the underlying ionic mechanisms, however, remain to be clarified. METHODS Ventricular myocytes isolated from human, guinea-pig or rat hearts were stretched between the patch electrode and a glass stylus. RESULTS Local stretch prolonged the action potential, depolarized the resting membrane and caused extra...

The voltage-dependent properties of the voltage-activated sodium channel were studied in neonatal (1-2-day-old) and adult rat ventricular cardiac myocytes using the whole-cell variation of the patch-clamp technique (16 degrees C, [Na]i = 15 mM, [Na]o = 25 mM). The voltage dependence of the sodium conductance-membrane potential relation was similar in both neonatal and adult myocytes except for ...

BACKGROUND Adult mammalian cardiac myocytes are generally assumed to be terminally differentiated; nonetheless, a small fraction of cardiac myocytes have been shown to replicate during ventricular remodeling. However, the expression of Replication Factor C (RFC; RFC140/40/38/37/36) and DNA polymerase δ (Pol δ) proteins, which are required for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation, in the adult n...

During ischemia intracellular concentrations of P(i) and H+ increase. Also, changes in myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform toward beta-MHC have been reported after ischemia and infarction associated with coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of myoplasmic changes of P(i) and H+ on the loaded shortening velocity and power output of cardiac myocytes expres...

Cardiac melanocyte-like cells (CMLCs) contribute to atrial arrhythmias when missing the melanin synthesis enzyme dopachrome tautomerase (Dct). While scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Dct-null mice partially suppressed atrial arrhythmias, it remains unclear if CMLCs influence atrial ROS and structure or if the electrical response of CMLCs to ROS differs from that of atrial myocytes. Th...