Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Assessing Cardiomyocyte Subtypes Following Transcription Factor-mediated Reprogramming of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts
Published on: March 22, 2017
Single-molecule imaging revealed enhanced dimerization of transforming growth factor β type II receptors in
Kangmin He1, Yongnan Fu, Wei Zhang
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructures and Nanotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China.
Abstract:
Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. However, the molecular mechanism of TGF-β signaling during the process of cardiac remodeling remains poorly understood. In the present study, by employing single-molecule fluorescence imaging approach, we demonstrated that in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, TGF-β type II receptors (TβRII) existed as monomers at the low expression level, and dimerized upon TGF-β1 stimulation. Importantly, for the first time, we found the increased dimerization of TβRII in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes comparing to the normal cardiomyocytes. The enhanced TβRII dimerization was correlated with the enhanced Smad3 phosphorylation levels. These results provide new information on the mechanism of TGF-β signaling in cardiac remodeling.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
Cardiomyopathy III: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Cellular Adaptation II: Hypertrophy

