Methods for studying myocardial function at the cellular and molecular levels in norm and pathology

The multiscale structural organization of the heart is critical for the myocardial function. The intensive development of the new techniques to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the whole heart organization and function makes fluorescent methods a leading research tool in this field. This work is devoted to the study of the contractile function of the myocardium at the single cell and contractile protein levels in normal and pathological conditions. The experimental model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) was used as an example of the disease condition. We found that DM2 affects the amplitude and time course of contraction and intracellular calcium transient in single left ventricular cardiomyocytes. At the molecular level, these changes were associated with the changes in the interaction of contractile proteins. Fluorescent studies on isolated cardiomyocytes and contractile proteins are important for the assessment of cellular and molecular mechanisms of the cardiac response to pathological interventions.