Integrative Myocardial Physiology/Pathophysiology A – MPPA

Topics

• Mediators and modulators of cardiac and vascular smooth muscle contractility: calcium homeostasis; calcium sensitive proteins; neural, redox, and transcriptional regulation of genes and proteins that modulate cardiac and vascular excitability and contractility; regulation of ion channel function and expression.
• Cardiac myocyte contractile function: sarcomeric proteins; calcium regulation and signaling; calcium-force relationship; excitability, excitation contraction coupling.
• Systolic and diastolic function/dysfunction: adaptation to abnormal hemodynamic load and ventricular mechanics; mechanical signal transduction; stress-strain relationships; effects of therapeutic interventions such as pacing, ventricular assist devices and others; valvular heart disease.
• Cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure: basic molecular and cellular mechanisms; myocyte growth, proliferation, metabolism and apoptosis; receptor signaling; transcriptional pathways; inflammatory/ cytokine-mediated processes. Mechanisms of remodeling and heart failure resulting from arrhythmia.
• Genetic cardiomyopathies: genotype-phenotype correlation; genomic and proteomic approaches to cardiac hypertrophy and failure.
• Cardiac repair to address issues of remodeling and contractility deficit: strategies may include cell-based, gene therapy and the evaluation of bioengineered cells and tissues; capillary density. Topics include those related to heart transplantation, changes in ventricular and cellular function, myocardial inflammation & repair processes, recovery of cardiac function in the presence of cardiac assist devices and by tissue engineering approaches.
• Metabolism and energetics associated with heart disease: impact of diet, obesity or systemic metabolic disorders, including diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia, associated with cardiac health and dysfunction; inclusion of age and sex in disease process. Issues contributing to cardiac-related metabolic dysfunction, lifestyle; diet, exercise, nutrition, environmental science; influences of age and sex in disease process.
• Cardiotoxicology: Effects of toxicants, including environmental and chemotherapeutic agents, on cardiac health and function.

Shared Interests and Overlaps

MPPA and Integrative Myocardial Physiology /Pathophysiology B (MPPB) have shared interests in broad topics of cardiotoxicology. Applications that emphasize drug-induced cardiotoxicology, generally due to off-target effects during treatment of cardiovascular disorders will be reviewed in MPPB. Applications that emphasize cardiotoxic effects resulting from chemotherapeutic agents or environmental toxicants will be reviewed in MPPA.

MPPA and Integrative Myocardial Physiology /Pathophysiology B (MPPB) have shared interests in metabolism and metabolic dysfunction. Applications that emphasize diet and metabolism related to ischemia/reperfusion tissue injury and arrhythmogenesis will be reviewed in MPPB. Applications that emphasize on investigating cardiovascular consequences of systemic metabolic disorders, including diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia, associated with cardiac dysfunction, hypertrophy and heart failure will be reviewed in MPPA.

MPPA and Integrative Myocardial Physiology /Pathophysiology B (MPPB) have shared interests in in topics related to cardiac repair. Applications that emphasize cardiac repair, particularly those focused on regeneration following ischemic injury, will be reviewed in MPPB. Applications that emphasize cardiac repair to address issues of remodeling and associated contractility deficit, will be reviewed in MPPA.

MPPA and Basic Biology of Blood, Heart and Vasculature (BBHV) have shared interests in broad topics associated with cardiomyocyte contractile function as well at metabolism and energetics aspects of heart disease. Applications that emphasize studies of cellular and tissue systems will be reviewed in BBHV. Applications that emphasize research conducted in animal model systems will be reviewed in MPPA.

MPPA and Integrative Vascular Physiology and Pathology (IVPP) have shared interests in broad topics related to mediators and modulators of smooth muscle contractility. Applications that emphasize research related to vascular processes will be reviewed in IVPP. Applications that emphasize cardiac function will be reviewed in MPPA.

MPPA and Clinical Integrative Cardiovascular and Hematological Sciences (CCHS) have shared interests in topics related to heart failure and cardiomyopathy. Applications that emphasize clinical aspects of heart failure and cardiomyopathy in humans and human samples will be reviewed in CCHS. Applications that emphasize animal model systems will be reviewed in MPPA.

There are shared interests between MPPA and Skeletal Muscle Biology and Exercise Physiology (SMEP): For applications that focus on contractile proteins and contractile systems in the context of cardiac contractile function, cardiac hypertrophy, and heart failure may be reviewed in MPPA; applications that focus on contractile function within the context of skeletal muscle may be assigned to SMEP.

There are shared interests with Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Physiology (PVP). Applications which generally focus on pulmonary conditions, including pulmonary hypertension, may be reviewed in PVP. Studies of pulmonary conditions which focus on models of right ventricular heart failure may be reviewed in MPPA.