Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Cardiac Contractile Force - Donald Bers

How is the heartbeat generated? What controls the strength of
contraction of heart muscle? What are the links between cardiac
structure and function? How does our understanding of skeletal and
smooth muscle and non-muscle cells influence our thinking about force
development in the heart? Are there important species differences in
how contraction is regulated in the heart? How do the new molecular
data fit together in understanding the heart beat? What goes wrong in
ischemia, hypertrophy, and heart failure? This book paints a modern
`portrait' of how the heart works and in this picture the author shows
a close-up of the structural, biochemical, and physiological links
between excitation and contraction.

The author takes the reader through a series of important,
interrelated topics with great clarity and continuity and also
includes many useful illustrations and tables. The book starts by
considering the cellular structures involved in
excitation-contraction coupling and then described the
characteristics of the myofilaments as the end effector of
excitation-contraction coupling. A general scheme of calcium
regulation is described and the possible sources and sinks of calcium
are discussed in simple, but quantitative terms. The cardiac action
potential and its many underlying currents are reviewed. Then the
characteristics of some key calcium transport systems (calcium
channels, sodium/calcium exchange and SR calcium uptake and release)
are discussed in detail. This is then built into a more integrated
picture of calcium regulation in succeeding chapters by detailed
discussions of excitation-calcium coupling mechanisms (in
skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle), the interplay between calcium
regulatory processes, and finally mechanisms of cardiac inotropy,
calcium overload, and dysfunction (e.g., ischemia, hypertrophy, and
heart failure).

Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Cardiac Contractile
Force &endash; Second Edition is an invaluable source of
information for anyone who is interested in how the heart beat is
controlled and especially suited for students of the cardiovascular
system at all levels from medical/graduate students through senior
investigators in related fields.