title: Forefront of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger studies: role of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger--lessons from knockout mice.
abstract: We used Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) knockout mice to evaluate the effects of NCX in cardiac function and the infarct size after ischemia/reperfusion injury. The contractile function in NCX KO mice hearts was significantly better than that in wild type (WT) mouse hearts after ischemia/reperfusion and the infracted size was significantly smaller in NCX KO mice hearts compared with that in WT mice hearts. NCX is critically involved in the development of ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial injury, and therefore the inhibition of NCX function may contribute to cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Science and Medicine, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Inohana, Chuo-ku, Japan. komuro-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Issei
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Komuro
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019831:Sodium-Calcium Exchanger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019831:Sodium-Calcium Exchanger