Related Experiment Videos
Molecular remodeling of cardiac contractile function
1Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039, USA.
The American Journal of Physiology
|December 31, 1997
Summary
New animal models with stable genetic modifications to the heart's contractile apparatus are created using transgenesis and gene targeting. These methods enable a deeper understanding of heart function at multiple levels.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- The heart's contractile function can be modified using various techniques.
- Stable, heritable alterations require genome-level modifications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review methods for creating stable genetic modifications in the heart's contractile apparatus.
- To explore how these modifications advance understanding of cardiac structure-function relationships.
Main Methods:
- Focus on techniques allowing germ-line transmission of cardiac remodeling events.
- Utilizes transgenesis and gene targeting for stable genome modification.
- Includes gene ablation and precise sequence alterations.
Main Results:
- Transgenesis and gene targeting enable dramatic alterations of the cardiac contractile apparatus.
- Gene ablation helps determine gene function.
- Targeted modifications establish precise structure-function relationships.
Conclusions:
- Stable animal models with modified contractile proteins are being generated.
- These models are crucial for understanding heart function from molecular to whole-animal levels.