title: Nuclear calcium in cardiac myocytes.
abstract: Calcium (Ca) is a universal second messenger involved in the regulation of various cellular processes, including electrical signaling, contraction, secretion, memory, gene transcription, and cell death. In heart, Ca governs cardiomyocyte contraction, is central in electrophysiological properties, and controls major signaling pathway implicated in gene transcription. How cardiomyocytes decode Ca signal to regulate gene expression without interfering with, or being controlled by, "contractile" Ca that floods the entire cytosol during each heartbeat is still elusive. In this review, we summarize recent findings on nuclear Ca regulation and its downstream signaling in cardiomyocytes. We will address difficulties in reliable quantification of nuclear Ca fluxes and discuss its role in the development and progression of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. We also point out key open questions to stimulate future work.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; and †Department of Pharmacology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA.
authors.forename: Senka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ljubojevic
authors.forename: Donald M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Bers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D002118:Calcium