CapZ dynamics are altered by endothelin-1 and phenylephrine via PIP2- and PKC-dependent mechanisms.

One of the unanswered questions in muscle hypertrophy is how new contractile units are inserted into a stable existing cytoskeletal meshwork. Regulation of actin capping by CapZ may play a role in remodeling processes, therefore, CapZ dynamics are determined during rapid growth of cardiac cells in vitro. Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes were infected with adenovirus expressing green fluorescent protein-CapZ beta1 and responded normally to hypertrophic stimuli.

Three-dimensional chemical structures by protein functionalized micron-sized beads bound to polylysine-coated silicone surfaces.

A novel method is described here that allows three-dimensional (3D) control of both chemistry and morphology by a series of wet chemical steps: the attachment of protein functionalized micron-sized beads onto a flat silicone surface that has been functionalized with a distinct chemical modification. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), laminin, or polylysine is covalently bound to 6.5-microm-diameter spherical beads.

RGD and YIGSR synthetic peptides facilitate cellular adhesion identical to that of laminin and fibronectin but alter the physiology of neonatal cardiac myocytes.

In the mammalian heart, the extracellular matrix plays an important role in regulating cell behavior and adaptation to mechanical stress. In cell culture, a significant number of cells detach in response to mechanical stimulation, limiting the scope of such studies. We describe a method to adhere the synthetic peptides RGD (fibronectin) and YIGSR (laminin) onto silicone for culturing primary cardiac cells and studying responses to mechanical stimulation.

Microfabricated grooves recapitulate neonatal myocyte connexin43 and N-cadherin expression and localization.

Our objective is to alter the surface topography on which cardiac myocytes are grown in culture so that they more closely resemble their in vivo counterparts. Microtextured silicone substrata were made using photolithography and microfabrication techniques and then coated with laminin. Primary cardiac myocytes from newborn rats were plated on microgrooved and nontextured substrata.

Inhibition of fibroblast proliferation in cardiac myocyte cultures by surface microtopography.

Cardiac myocyte cultures usually require pharmacological intervention to prevent overproliferation of contaminating nonmyocytes. Our aim is to prevent excessive fibroblast cell proliferation without the use of cytostatins. We have produced a silicone surface with 10-microm vertical projections that we term "pegs," to which over 80% of rat neonatal cardiac fibroblasts attach within 48 h after plating.

GRGDSP peptide-bound silicone membranes withstand mechanical flexing in vitro and display enhanced fibroblast adhesion.

Mechanobiological studies of cardiac tissue require devices that allow forces to be exerted on cells in vitro. Silicone elastomer is often used in these devices because it is flexible and transparent, permitting optical imaging of the cells. However, native untreated silicone is hydrophobic and is unsuitable for cell culture.