Calcium Signalling in Heart and Vessels: Role of Calmodulin and Downstream Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases

Sofia Beghi*, Malgorzata Furmanik, Armand Jaminon, Rogier Veltrop, Nikolas Rapp, Kanin Wichapong, Elham Bidar, Annamaria Buschini, Leon J Schurgers

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal(Systematic) Review article peer-review

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death worldwide. The success of medication and other preventive measures introduced in the last century have not yet halted the epidemic of cardiovascular disease. Although the molecular mechanisms of the pathophysiology of the heart and vessels have been extensively studied, the burden of ischemic cardiovascular conditions has risen to become a top cause of morbidity and mortality. Calcium has important functions in the cardiovascular system. Calcium is involved in the mechanism of excitation-contraction coupling that regulates numerous events, ranging from the production of action potentials to the contraction of cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. Both in the heart and vessels, the rise of intracellular calcium is sensed by calmodulin, a protein that regulates and activates downstream kinases involved in regulating calcium signalling. Among them is the calcium calmodulin kinase family, which is involved in the regulation of cardiac functions. In this review, we present the current literature regarding the role of calcium/calmodulin pathways in the heart and vessels with the aim to summarize our mechanistic understanding of this process and to open novel avenues for research.

Original languageEnglish
Article number16139
Number of pages19
JournalInternational journal of molecular sciences
Volume23
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Calmodulin/metabolism
  • Calcium/metabolism
  • Cardiovascular Diseases/metabolism
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases/metabolism
  • Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2/metabolism

Cite this