Redox Regulation of Growth and Death in Cardiac Myocytes

摘要

THIS AND THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL FOCUS On the regulation of myocardial growth and death by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), with a special emphasis on cell-signaling mechanisms. During the past decade, a growing number of studies published in peer-reviewed journals have examined the role of oxidative stress in mediating cell growth and death of cardiac myocytes, and the relevance of such mechanisms in cardiac diseases, such as ischemic heart diseases and congestive heart failure. Although oxidative stress has detrimental effects on the heart, such as apoptosisecrosis, fibrosis, cardiac arrhythmia, and mitochondrial dysfunction, it also mediates physiologic and/or protective responses, such as (compensatory) hypertrophy, angiogenesis, and preconditioning effects. The better to illustrate the cardiac role of ROS/RNS, this editorial reviews these contrasting cellular functions of ROS/RNS and their effect on cell-signaling mechanisms