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Updated: Jun 6, 2026
Isolation of Human Atrial Myocytes for Simultaneous Measurements of Ca2+ Transients and Membrane Currents
Published on: July 3, 2013
Unchanged heat-shock protein 70 expression in myocardium of patients with permanent atrial fibrillation
A E Schäfler1, A Hannekum, K Kirmanoglou
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. aschaefler@gmx.de
Aim:
Cardiomyocytes respond to permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) with an increase in mitochondrial heat shock proteins (Hsp). The aim of our study was to test if there is a cytoplasmic response to stress by investigating the expression of Hsp70.
Methods:
Right atrial samples from 18 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were excised and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. Eight patients had permanent AF (> 3 months) and 10 patients were in sinus rhythm (SR). Hsp70 was determined by SDS-PAGE, Western blot and quantified with optical densitometry.
Results:
We found no increase in Hsp70 expression in myocardial samples from patients with permanent AF.
Conclusion:
The unchanged expression of Hsp70 may indicate that the cytoplasmic stress response in permanent AF is exhausted.
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