JAPANESE VERSION: Rapid Electrical Stimulation and Intercellular Proteins

Following the introduction in English, this podcast interview is presented in Japanese. It is well known that rapid pacing of the heart causes calcium overload and myocardial cell damage in heart failure patients. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unknown. Listen as Associate Editor Masafumi Kitakaze interviews lead author Tomoko Ohkusa (Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine) and expert Motoaki Sano (Keio University School of Medicine) about the latest work by Nakashima et al, which explores rapid electrical stimulation and adhesion gap junctions in cardiomyocytes. Does beta-Catenin play an important role in the formation and stability of gap junctions? Could beta-Catenin signaling pathways form the basis of new cellular therapies to modulate intracellular junction remodeling? Listen to find out.

Tadamitsu Nakashima, Tomoko Ohkusa, Yoko Okamoto, Masaaki Yoshida, Jong-Kook Lee, Yoichi Mizukami, Masafumi Yano Rapid electrical stimulation causes alterations in cardiac intercellular junction proteins of cardiomyocytes Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published online Articles in Press March 7, 2014; published in May 1, 2014 issue. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00653.2013.