Cardiac contractility is regulated by changes in intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca2+] i).
Normal function requires that [Ca2+] i be sufficiently high in systole and low in diastole …

Local intracellular Ca2+ transients, termed Ca2+ sparks, are caused by the coordinated
opening of a cluster of ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ release channels in the sarcoplasmic …

How is the heartbeat generated? What controls the strength of contraction of heart muscle?
What are the links between cardiac structure and function? How does our understanding of …

Ca sparks are elementary Ca-release events from intracellular Ca stores that are observed
in virtually all types of muscle. Typically, Ca sparks are measured in the line-scan mode with …

Our recent data show that in cardiac myocytes polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are
antiarrhythmic. They reduce I Na, shorten the action potential, shift the threshold for …

Our aim was to measure the influence of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium content ([Ca]
SRT) and free SR [Ca]([Ca] SR) on the fraction of SR calcium released during voltage clamp …

Determination of the calcium spark amplitude distribution is of critical importance for
understanding the nature of elementary calcium release events in striated muscle. In the …

cAMP is a powerful second messenger whose known general effector is protein kinase A
(PKA). The identification of a cAMP binding protein, Epac, raises the question of its role in …

Background—Sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a) gene therapy
improves mechanical function in heart failure and is under evaluation in a clinical trial. A …

The elementary events of excitation-contraction coupling in heart muscle are Ca 2+ sparks,
which arise from one or more ryanodine receptors in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Here …