Publications by authors named "Kimberly N Gregory"

Depressed cardiac Ca cycling by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) has been associated with attenuated contractility, which can progress to heart failure. The histidine-rich Ca-binding protein (HRC) is an SR component that binds to triadin and may affect Ca release through the ryanodine receptor. HRC overexpression in transgenic mouse hearts was associated with decreased rates of SR Ca uptake and delayed relaxation, which progressed to hypertrophy with aging.

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Objective: The histidine-rich Ca-binding protein (HRC) is a Ca-storage protein in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. Recent transgenic studies revealed that this protein inhibits the maximal rates of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-transport, leading to cardiac dysfunction. In view of the role of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-cycling in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, we designed this study to gain further insight into the role of HRC during ischemia/reperfusion.

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Defects in the pathways that regulate cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium (Ca) cycling represent prime targets for driving the deterioration of function and progression to heart failure. We hypothesized that the histidine-rich Ca binding protein (HRC) in the SR may be involved in SR Ca cycling and that alterations in HRC levels would result in abnormal cardiac Ca homeostasis. In order to test this hypothesis, we generated transgenic mice with cardiac overexpression (3-fold) of HRC.

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Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle resulting from a diverse array of conditions that damages the heart and impairs myocardial function. Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood at a rate which can accommodate the heart muscle's metabolic requirements. Several signaling pathways have been shown to be involved in the induction of cardiac disease and heart failure.

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Impaired sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca release has been suggested to contribute to the depressed cardiac function in heart failure. The release of Ca from the SR may be regulated by the ryanodine receptor, triadin, junctin, calsequestrin, and a histidine-rich, Ca-binding protein (HRC). We observed that the levels of HRC were reduced in animal models and human heart failure.

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Cytosolic Ca(2+) overload is a critical mediator of myocardial damage following cardiac ischemia-reperfusion. It has therefore been proposed that normalization of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) cycling through inhibition or ablation of the Ca(2+) ATP-ase inhibitor phospholamban (PLN), which shows promise as a treatment for heart failure, could be beneficial in ischemic heart disease. However, a recent study has shown that globally ischemic PLN-deficient hearts exhibit increased ischemic injury, with impaired contractile, ATP, and phosphocreatine recoveries, compared to wild-type hearts.

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Agonist-promoted desensitization of G-protein-coupled receptors results in partial uncoupling of receptor from cognate G-protein, a process that provides for rapid adaptation to the signaling environment. This property plays important roles in physiologic and pathologic processes as well as therapeutic efficacy. However, coupling is also influenced by polymorphic variation, but the relative impact of these two mechanisms on signal transduction is not known.

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