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Review
. 2018 Aug;10(4):961-971.
doi: 10.1007/s12551-018-0430-7. Epub 2018 Jun 6.

At the heart of inter- and intracellular signaling: the intercalated disc

Heather R Manring  1 , Lisa E Dorn  1 , Aidan Ex-Willey  1 , Federica Accornero  2 , Maegen A Ackermann  3
Affiliations
Review

At the heart of inter- and intracellular signaling: the intercalated disc

Heather R Manring et al. Biophys Rev. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Proper cardiac function requires the synchronous mechanical and electrical coupling of individual cardiomyocytes. The intercalated disc (ID) mediates coupling of neighboring myocytes through intercellular signaling. Intercellular communication is highly regulated via intracellular signaling, and signaling pathways originating from the ID control cardiomyocyte remodeling and function. Herein, we present an overview of the inter- and intracellular signaling that occurs at and originates from the intercalated disc in normal physiology and pathophysiology. This review highlights the importance of the intercalated disc as an integrator of signaling events regulating homeostasis and stress responses in the heart and the center of several pathophysiological processes mediating the development of cardiomyopathies.

Keywords: Cardiomyocyte; Cardiomyopathy; Heart; Intercalated disc.

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Conflict of interest statement

Heather R. Manring declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Lisa E. Dorn declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Aidan Ex-Willey declares that he has no conflicts of interest. Federica Accornero declares that she has no conflicts of interest. Maegen A. Ackermann declares that she has no conflicts of interest.

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Intercalated disc ultrastructure in human myocardium. A non-failing donor heart was obtained in collaboration with Lifeline of Ohio and Dr. Paul Janssen at the Ohio State University. Freshly isolated heart tissue was prepped for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) according to our previously published methods (Ackermann et al. 2017b). a Representative TEM of the human heart myocardium is used to illustrate the canonical ID structure. Mitochondria, Z-lines, and M-bands are denoted by the Mt, Z, and M, respectively. Scale bar = 500 nm. b A focused region of the ID, dotted box from (a), highlighting specific ID structures
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic representation of major proteins at the intercalated disc. Cardiomyocytes 1 and 2 are shown with green and blue backgrounds respectively
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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