The ability of the myocardium to successfully adapt to environmental stress ultimately
determines whether the heart will decompensate and fail, or whether it will maintain
preserved function. Despite the importance of the myocardial response to environmental
stress, very little is known with respect to the biochemical mechanisms that are responsible
for mediating and integrating the stress response in the heart. The present review
summarizes recent experimental material that suggests that the heart possesses a germ-line …