title: Role of neuronal calcium sensor-1 in the cardiovascular system.
abstract: Calcium (Ca(2+)) is an important intracellular messenger, regulating myocyte contraction via excitation-contraction (EC) coupling and gene transcription underlying hypertrophy in the heart. Although the mechanisms of EC coupling in the immature heart are believed to be different from those in the adult heart because of the structural immaturity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the young heart, the details of these mechanisms are not completely understood. Neuronal Ca(2+) sensor-1 (NCS-1) is an EF-hand Ca(2+)-binding protein that is highly expressed in young hearts; however, little is known about its cardiac functions. In this review, we summarize our recent findings indicating that NCS-1 acts as a novel regulator enhancing Ca(2+) signals in the heart and hence promoting contraction in the immature heart and hypertrophy in the adult heart. Possible signal transduction pathways are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka 565-8565, Japan. tomoen@ri.ncvc.go.jp
authors.forename: Tomoe Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
mesh_terms: D002319:Cardiovascular System; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D017380:Hypertrophy, Right Ventricular / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac; D051580:Neuronal Calcium-Sensor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051580:Neuronal Calcium-Sensor Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; C101464:frequenin calcium sensor proteins