Abstract
Signal Transduction The flow of blood within the heart is exactly matched to its metabolic needs and, throughout life, never runs out of energy. How is this possible? Zhao et al. identified a local and instantaneous feedback control system that couples metabolism in cardiac myocytes to the regulation of blood flow. Several such mechanisms exist, but these authors characterize one that depends on adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–sensitive K+ (KATP) channels. Studies of mouse ventricular myocytes showed that as active cells depleted intracellular concentrations of ATP, KATP channels were activated. This caused an efflux of K+, thus depolarizing the cells. Electrical coupling of the myocytes to neighboring endothelial cells and contractile pericytes and smooth muscle cells allowed a compensatory increase in blood flow. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 , 7461 (2020).
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