This review highlights the critical role of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels and their auxiliary subunits in normal cardiac function, excitation-contraction coupling, and the progression of heart failure and arrhythmias.
Sydney Ringer would be overwhelmed today by the implications of his simple experiment performed over 120 years ago showing that the heart would not beat in the absence of Ca2+. Fascination with the role of Ca2+ has proliferated into all aspects of our understanding of normal cardiac function and the progression of heart disease, including induction of cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, and sudden death. This review examines the role of Ca2+ and the L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in cardiac disease.
Ilona Bódi (2005) conducted a review in Cardiac disease (hypertrophy, heart failure, arrhythmias). L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (L-VDCC) was evaluated. This review highlights the critical role of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels and their auxiliary subunits in normal cardiac function, excitation-contraction coupling, and the progression of heart failure and arrhythmias.