European Researchers’ Night, Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, September 27, 2013

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Lecture “Cells that actuate life” in the Discovery Hall of the Slovak National Museum

A. Zahradníková presented a talk about cardiac muscle cells – cardiomyocytes – that perform the work that leads to cardiac contraction during the systole, and thus secure circulation of blood in the organism. She dealt with the life of such a cell during one heartbeat, with the conversation between two protein molecules DHPR and RyR. This conversation, performed in the language of physics and chemistry, occurs within a couple of milliseconds and results in release of the right amount of calcium from the intracellular stores and thus to the right amount of cell contraction. defects of communication between the DHPR and RyR molecules lead to serious cardiac diseases – heart failure and arrhythmias.

Link: Slovenské národné múzeum