The sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) protein is the major cardiac calcium extrusion mechanism and is upregulated in heart failure (HF). NCX expression level and functional activity as regulated by -adrenergic receptor ( -AR) stimulation in swine with and without tachycardia-induced heart failure were studied. The Ni -sensitive NCX current was measured in myocytes from HF and control animals in th...

Hypertrophied and failing cardiac myocytes generally show alterations in intracellular Ca handling associated with changes in the contractile function and arrhythmogenicity. The cardiac Na -Ca exchange (NCX) is an important mechanism for Ca extrusion and cell relaxation. Its possible involvement in changes of excitation-contraction coupling (EC-coupling) with disease remains uncertain. We analy...

Hypertrophied and failing cardiac myocytes generally show alterations in intracellular Ca2+ handling associated with changes in the contractile function and arrhythmogenicity. The cardiac Na+-Ca2+ exchange (NCX) is an important mechanism for Ca2+ extrusion and cell relaxation. Its possible involvement in changes of excitation-contraction coupling (EC-coupling) with disease remains uncertain. We...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Ncx (Enx, Hox11L.1)-deficient (Ncx-/-) mice develop mega-ileo-ceco-colon with a larger number of neuronal cells in the enteric ganglia. We investigated mechanisms related to this abnormality and directed our attention to the effects on gastrointestinal tract functions. METHODS The number of NADPH diaphorase or cuprolinic blue-positive neuronal cells in the enteric ganglia w...

Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) proteins mediate Ca(2+)-fluxes across the cell membrane to maintain Ca(2+) homeostasis in many cell types. Eukaryotic NCX contains Ca(2+)-binding regulatory domains, CBD1 and CBD2. Ca(2+) binding to a primary sensor (Ca3-Ca4 sites) on CBD1 activates mammalian NCXs, whereas CALX, a Drosophila NCX ortholog, displays an inhibitory response to regulatory Ca(2+). To furt...

Autoantibodies against nucleosomes are considered a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We compared in patients with proliferative lupus nephritis the diagnostic usefulness of a dsDNA-loaded nucleosome ELISA (anti-dsDNA-NcX) with ELISAs in which dsDNA or nucleosomes alone were coated. First, we analysed whether DNA loading on nucleosomes led to masking of epitopes by using defined m...

BACKGROUND Conflicting opinions are present in the literature regarding the origin of the negative inotropic effect of propofol on the myocardium. This study aims to resolve these discrepancies by investigating the inotropic effects of propofol the L-type calcium channels and the sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX). METHODS The effect of 20 microg/ml propofol on force development was determined in...

Because the presence of a native plasmalemmal Na+/Ca2+ exchange (NCX) activity in Xenopus laevis oocytes remains controversial, its possible functional role in these cells is poorly understood. Here, in experiments on control oocytes and oocytes overexpressing a cloned NCX1 cardiac protein, confocal microscopy combined with electrophysiological techniques reveal that these cells express an endo...

NCX 4016, a nitro-ester of aspirin endowed with antithrombotic activity, appears to have clinical potential in treating cardiac complications related to coronary insufficiency. This compound has been shown to improve postischemic ventricular dysfunction and to reduce myocardial infarct size in the rabbit. The cardioprotection conferred by NCX 4016 (10, 30, and 100 mg/kg) and aspirin (ASA, 54 mg...

Aspirin that has been chemically combined with a nitric oxide (NO) donor (NCX-4016) has been shown to inhibit cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin generation while maintaining the inhibitory effects of aspirin. The possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the action of NCX-4016 in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) has not been studied. Furthermore, we were interested in comparing the effects of a...