title: Targeting diastolic dysfunction by genetic engineering of calcium handling proteins.
abstract: Diastolic heart failure (HF) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and is a growing medical problem in this country. Diastolic dysfunction is defined as an abnormality in myocardial relaxation that impairs filling during diastole and contributes to the clinical syndrome of HF. Effective clinical strategies to treat diastolic dysfunction are limited. This article focuses on the potential application of parvalbumin--a fast skeletal muscle calcium buffer--for remediation of slow relaxation in the failing heart.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Michigan, 1301 East Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0622, USA.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coutu
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Szatkowski
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Metzger
mesh_terms: D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology*