Classic Studies of Cultured Cardiac Myocyte Hypertrophy

Abstract

Differentiation of Rat Myocytes in Single Cell Cultures With and Without Proliferating Nonmyocardial Cells Simpson, P. and Savion, S. Circ Res. 1982;50:101–116 Myocyte Hypertrophy in Neonatal Rat Heart Cultures and Its Regulation by Serum and by Catecholamines Simpson, P., McGrath, A., and Savion, S. Circ Res . 1982;51:787–801 Stimulation of Hypertrophy of Cultured Neonatal Rat Heart Cells Through an α1-Adrenergic Receptor and Induction of Beating Through an α1- and β1-Adrenergic Receptor Interaction Simpson, P. Circ Res . 1985;56;884–894 By way of these publications, Paul Simpson transformed how we think about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy. At my institution, I teach a course entitled The Molecular Basis of Heart Disease. Among the topics covered in the course is the cellular and molecular basis of pathological cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. The reading list for the course includes many of what I believe to be classic articles on cardiac myocyte growth. Among the articles that have strongly influenced our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of the pathology are 3 that were published by Dr Paul Simpson in Circulation Research in 19821,2 and 1985.3 I became aware of these articles when they were published because my laboratory was examining the secretion of endocrine and paracrine factors by the heart, and our focus was on the peptide hormone, atrial natriuretic factor. In part, our studies required that we prepare separate cultures of rat atrial and ventricular myocytes, and that we maintain them in serum-free medium to test the effects of various adrenergic agonists on atrial natriuretic factor expression, post-translational processing, and secretion. Thankfully, the articles of Paul Simpson described with clarity and completeness how to not only isolate neonatal rat ventricular myocytes, but also how to maintain them …