Placental growth factor regulates cardiac adaptation and hypertrophy through a paracrine mechanism.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Paracrine growth factor-mediated crosstalk between cardiac myocytes and nonmyocytes in the heart is critical for programming adaptive cardiac hypertrophy in which myocyte size, capillary density, and the extracellular matrix function coordinately.

Objective

To examine the role that placental growth factor (PGF) plays in the heart as a paracrine regulator of cardiac adaptation to stress stimulation.

Methods and results

PGF is induced in the heart after pressure-overload stimulation, where it is expressed in both myocytes and nonmyocytes. We generated cardiac-specific and adult inducible PGF-overexpressing transgenic mice and analyzed Pgf(-/-) mice to examine the role that this factor plays in cardiac disease and paracrine signaling. Although PGF transgenic mi

SUBMITTER: Accornero F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3146170 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature