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Extracellular Ubiquitin: Role In Cardiac Myocyte Apoptosis And Myocardial Remodeling, Christopher Ray Daniels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Activation of sympathetic nervous system is a key component of myocardial remodeling that generally occurs following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and myocardial infarction. It induces cardiac myocyte apoptosis and myocardial fibrosis, leading to myocardial dysfunction. Intracellular ubiquitin (UB) regulates protein turnover by the UB-proteosome pathway. The biological functions of extracellular UB in the heart remain largely unexplored. Previously, our lab has shown that β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) stimulation increases extracellular UB levels, and extracellular UB inhibits β-AR-stimulated apoptosis in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs). This study explores the role of extracellular UB in myocyte apoptosis, fibroblast phenotype and function, and myocardial remodeling …