Molecular and Subcellular Cardiology: Effects of Structure and Function

The Henry Goldberg Workshops were set up to address the following goals: (1) To foster interdisciplinary interaction between scientists and cardiologists, identify missing links, and catalyze new ideas. (2) To relate basic microscale phenomena to the global, clinically manifested cardiac function. (3) To relate conceptual modeling and quantitative analysis to experimental and clinical data. (4) To encourage international cooperation so as to disperse medical and technological knowhow and lead to better understanding of the cardiac system. The first Henry Goldberg Workshop, held in Haifa in 1984, introduced the concept of interaction between cardiac mechanics, electrical activation, perfusion, and metabolism, emphasizing imaging in the clinical environment. The second Workshop, in 1985, discussed the same parameters with a slant towards the control aspects. The third Goldberg Workshop, held in the USA at Rutgers University in 1986, highlighted the transformation of the microscale activation phenomena to macroscale activity and performance, relating electrophysiology, energy metabolism, and cardiac mechanics. The fourth Goldberg Workshop, in 1987, continued the effort to elucidate the interactions among the various parameters affecting cardiac performance, with emphasis on the ischemic heart. The fifth Workshop, held in Cambridge, UK, in 1988, dwelt on the effects of inhomogeneity of the cardiac muscle on its performance in health and disease. The sixth Workshop highlighted the role of new modem imaging techniques, that allow us to gain more insight into local and global cardiac performance in cardiac research and clinical practice.

Table of Contents:
Molecular Mechanisms of Sarcolemar Excitability.- 1 Ion Channels and Pumps in Cardiac Function.- 2 Molecular Mechanisms of K+ Channel Blockade: 4-Aminopyridine Interaction with a Cloned Cardiac Transient K+ (Kv1.4) Channel.- 3 Na+, K+-ATPase and Heart Excitability.- 4 Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Ventricular Myocytes: Effects of Angiotensin II.- 5 Prospects for Genetic Manipulation of Cardiac Excitability.- 6 Integrative Models and Responses in Cardiac Ischemia.- 7 Rich Dynamics in a Simplified Excitable System.- 8 Model Studies of Cellular Excitation.- Intracellular Calcium and Muscle Function — SR and Filaments.- 9 Confocal Microscopy Reveals Local SR Calcium Release in Voltage-Clamped Cardiac Cells.- 10 Signaling of Ca2+ Release and Contraction in Cardiac Myocytes.- 11 A Model of Ca2+ Release from the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum.- 12 Troponin C — Troponin I Interactions and Molecular Signalling in Cardiac Myofilaments.- 13 The GATA-4 Transcription Factor Transactivates the Cardiac-Specific Troponin C Promoter-Enhancer in Non-Muscle Cells.- 14 Sarcomere Function and Crossbridge Cycling.- 15 Crossbridge Dynamics in Muscle Contraction.- 16 Mechanisms of the Frank-Starling Phenomena Studied in Intact Hearts.- Molecular Manifestations of Cell Adaptation.- 17 Metabolic Oscillations in Heart Cells.- 18 Altered Gene Transcription following Brief Episodes of Coronary Occlusions.- 19 Mechanoperception and Mechanotransduction in Cardiac Adaptation: Mechanical and Molecular Aspects.- 20 Molecular Manifestations of Cardiac Hypertrophy in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat Effects of Antihypertensive Treatments.- 21 Regulation of Adenosine Receptors in Cultured Heart Cells.- 22 A Model Approach to the Adaptation of Cardiac Structure by Mechanical Feedback in the Environmentof the Cell.- 23 The Effect of Cytotoxic Lymphocytes on Contraction, Action Potential and Calcium Handling in Cultured Myocardial Cells.- 24 Ventricular Remodeling in Heart Failure: the Role of Myocardial Collagen.- Analysis and Modeling: From Microstructure to Macro-Performance.- 25 Mechanisms of Endocardial Endothelium Modulation of Myocardial Performance.- 26 Myocardial Microcirculation as Evaluated with CT.- 27 Vascular Gene Therapy.- 28 Integration of Structure, Function and Mass Transport in the Myocardium.- 29 Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Functional Aspects by Tagged Magnetic Resonance Imaging.- 30 Myocardial Constitutive Laws for Continuum Mechanics Models of the Heart.- 31 Distribution of Myocardial Strains: An MRI Study.- Closure.- Toward Modeling the Human Physionome.- The Editors.- List of Contributors.