Cardiac muscle cells are equipped with specialized biochemical machineries for the rapid
generation of force and movement central to the work generated by the heart. During each …

Emerging evidence indicates that Wnt signaling regulates crucial aspects of cardiovascular
biology (including cardiac morphogenesis, and the self-renewal and differentiation of …

Intercalated disks (ICDs) are highly organized cell-cell adhesion structures, which connect
cardiomyocytes to one another. They are composed of three major complexes …

The heart is one of the first organs to function in the developing embryo. Vertebrate heart
development can be subdivided into different phases, eg specification of myo-and …

The armadillo-related protein β-catenin has multiple functions in cardiac tissue homeostasis:
stabilization of β-catenin has been implicated in adult cardiac hypertrophy, and …

Mechanical stress on the heart can lead to crucially different outcomes. Exercise is
beneficial because it causes heart muscle cells to enlarge (hypertrophy). Chronic …

For years, biomechanical engineers have studied the physical forces involved in
morphogenesis of the heart. In a parallel stream of research, molecular and developmental …

Abstract Specification and early patterning of the vertebrate heart are dependent on both
canonical and noncanonical wingless (Wnt) signal pathways. However, the impact of each …

Proteins from the Wnt family have been implicated in cell–cell communication in a wide
variety of developmental and physiological processes. Wnt signaling is required for different …

Background—The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a central role during cardiac
development and has been implicated in cardiac remodeling and aging. However, the role …