hypertrophic cardiomyopathy tagged posts

Microtubules in a cardiomyocyte at rest (top) and when compressed. Credit: The lab of Ben Prosser, Ph.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Using new high-resolution microscopy, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania found microtubules (MT) interact with the heart’s contractile machinery to provide mechanical resistance for the beating of the heart. Their findings could have implications for better understanding how microtubules affect the mechanics of the beating heart, and what happens when this goes awry.

Alterations in this microtubule network have been suggested to contribute to heart disease, but just how microtubules behave in the beating heart is poorly understood...