Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIdelta orchestrates G-protein-coupled receptor and electric field stimulation-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

1. G-Protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) and electrical field stimulation (EFS) regulate cardiac function and pathological remodelling, including cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) IIdelta expression and activity are altered in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.

Inhibition of calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II suppresses cardiac fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix secretion.

Calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is one of the main protein kinases mediating intracellular Ca changes. It is also involved in the process of cardiac diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy, but its effects on myocardial fibrosis remain unclear. The present study investigates whether CaMKII is involved in cardiac fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion induced by angiotensin II (AngII) or electrical field stimulation (EFS) in cultured neonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts.

[Polymorphism research on the distribution of four HLA alleles in five Chinese populations].

ARMS-SSP PCR was applied to survey the distribution of four AIDS associated HLA alleles, HLA-A*02, B*35, B*27, and B*57 in five Chinese nationalities (Yunnan han, yi, dai, Xinjiang uygur, and Guangxi zhuang). The results showed that HLA-A*02 allele occured very frequently at higher frequencies in han and zhuang than in the other three nationalities; B*35 did not show great variation in it's distribution in five population groups; B*27 had a distinctively high frequency in dai, but normal in han, yi and zhuang; B*57 allele did not vary greatly in these nationalities, too. A*02, B*27 and B*57 are three protective alleles.