This monograph contains 20 selected papers presented at the Symposium on Subcellular Basis of Contractile Failure which was held in Ottawa during May 11-13, 1989 and is designed for the benefit ofthose who were unable to attend this event. It is now increasingly becoming clear that an excessive amount of calcium is intimately involved in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of heart diseases. Accordingly, the investigations concerning the role of calcium chan nels and their regulatory mechanisms in heart function as well as of the intra cellular calcium overload in cardiac dysfunction are...

Research at the molecular and the cellular level has greatly enhanced our understanding of the pathogenesis and management of heart disease. Valuable contributions, towards this end, have been made by scientists from different dis ciplines including biochemistry, physiology, pathology, molecular biology and biophysics. We felt that it would be of interest and value to bring together ex perts from diverse specialities to present their work and to discuss the common problems encountered in their endeavours. In accordance, a symposium was organised in February 1988 at the Postgraduate Institute...

In the course of the last two decades, it has become increasingly evident that the sarcolemmal, sarcoplasmic reticular and mitochondrial membrane systems play an important role in determining the status of heart funotion in health and disease. These organelles have been shown to be intimately involved in the regulation of cation movements during the contraotion-relaxation cycle. Various proteins imbedded in the phospholipid 2+ + - + + bilayers of these membranes control Ca, Na, Cl, K and H concentrations within the oytoplasm by indirect or direct means. Cationic channels, Na+, + 2+ 2+ 2+ + 2+...