In Heart Cell Communication in Health and Disease an extensive review of different aspects of heart cell communication is presented. The book starts with the fundamental concept that cardiac cells are communicated, and then proceeds to the role of gap junctions in heart development, the molecular biology of gap junctions, the biophysics of the intercellular channels, the control of junctional conductance and the influence of gap junctions on impulse propagation. This is the first time that a single volume has described cell communication in the normal heart and under different pathological conditions such as heart failure, coronary disease, myocardial ischemia and cardiac arrhythmias. In this way the process of cell communication is analyzed at different levels of complexity, providing the reader with a wide view of this field and its relevance to cardiology.

Inhalt

Preface. 1. On the Syncytial Nature of Cardiac Muscle; W.C. De Mello. 2. Gap Junctions and Heart Development; R.G. Gourdie, et al. 3. Cardiovascular Gap Junction Proteins: Molecular Characterization and Biochemical Regulation; E. Beyer, et al. 4. Biophysics of Gap Junction Channels; R.D. Veenstra, Hong-Zhan Wang. 5. On the Control of Junctional Conductance; W.C. De Mello. 6. Gap Junctions and the Spread of Electrical Excitation; R. Shaw, Y. Rudy. 7. Cell to Cell Communication in the Failing Heart; W.C. De Mello. 8. Gap Junctions and Coronary Heart Disease; N.J. Severs. 9. Cellular Electrical Uncoupling During Ischemia; M. Janse, et al. 10. Gap Junctions, Cardiac Excitability and Clinical Arrhythmias; M.F. Arnsdorf, S.C. Dudley. Index.