Cholesterol is required for maintaining T-tubule integrity and intercellular connections at intercalated discs in cardiomyocytes.

ABSTRACT:

Backgrounds

Low serum cholesterol levels are associated with cardiac arrhythmias and poor prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. However, the underlying mechanisms by which decreases in cholesterol content lead to cardiac dysfunction remain unclear. Multiple studies have implicated damage to cardiac transverse (T)-tubules as a key mediator of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling dysfunction and heart failure. Since the T-tubule membrane system is enriched in cholesterol, we hypothesized that depletion of membrane cholesterol promotes T-tubule remodeling and E-C coupling dysfunction.

Methods and results

We first examined the impact of membrane cholesterol depletion on T-tubule architecture by treating isolated C57BL/6 murine cardiomyocytes with methyl-β-cyclodextr

SUBMITTER: Zhu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5002380 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature