The Role of Passive Mechanics in the Progression of Dilated Cardiomyopathy

The dynamic nature of the mammalian heart allows it the plasticity to change anatomically to accommodate an inciting stimulus in an attempt to maintain function within physiological ranges. This compensatory remodeling has a limit, beyond which the transition to heart failure ensues. Though the discrete states of hypertrophy and congestive heart failure have been extensively studied, the factors that influence the inability to further compensate and give way to overt failure remain unclear. The objectives of this work were thus to characterize the anatomical and functional alterations that occur during the transition to failure in a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy and propose mechanisms that may mediate the evolution towards a maladaptive phenotype.