Department of Physiology and Biophysics and School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine, University Heart Centre Freiburg/Bad Krozingen, Medical Faculty of the University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; and CIBSS-Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Physiol Rev. 2021 Jan 1;101(1):37-92. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00036.2019. Epub 2020 May 7.
The heart is vital for biological function in almost all chordates, including humans. It beats continually throughout our life, supplying the body with oxygen and nutrients while removing waste products. If it stops, so does life. The heartbeat involves precise coordination of the activity of billions of individual cells, as well as their swift and well-coordinated adaption to changes in physiological demand. Much of the vital control of cardiac function occurs at the level of individual cardiac muscle cells, including acute beat-by-beat feedback from the local mechanical environment to electrical activity (as opposed to longer term changes in gene expression and functional or structural remodeling). This process is known as mechano-electric coupling (MEC). In the current review, we present evidence for, and implications of, MEC in health and disease in human; summarize our understanding of MEC effects gained from whole animal, organ, tissue, and cell studies; identify potential molecular mediators of MEC responses; and demonstrate the power of computational modeling in developing a more comprehensive understanding of ‟what makes the heart tick.ˮ.
心脏对于包括人类在内的几乎所有脊索动物的生物功能至关重要。它在我们的一生中持续跳动，为身体提供氧气和营养，同时清除废物。一旦它停止跳动，生命也就结束了。心跳涉及数十亿个单个细胞活动的精确协调，以及它们对生理需求变化的迅速和协调一致的适应。心脏功能的许多重要控制发生在单个心肌细胞的水平上，包括来自局部机械环境的急性逐拍反馈对电活动的影响（与基因表达和功能或结构重塑的长期变化相反）。这个过程被称为机械电耦联（MEC）。在本综述中，我们提出了机械电耦联在人类健康和疾病中的证据和意义；总结了我们从整体动物、器官、组织和细胞研究中获得的对机械电耦联效应的理解；确定了机械电耦联反应的潜在分子介质；并展示了计算建模在更全面地理解“使心脏跳动的原因”方面的强大功能。
