Signaling Pathways in Cardiac Hypertrophy

In a number of pathological conditions such as hypertension, valvular disease, myocardial infarction, and cardiomyopathy, postnatal cardiomyocytes undergo cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac hypertrophy is the heart’s response to increased biomechanical stress, which is accompanied by activation of a fetal gene program, assembly of sarcomeres, and cellular enlargement. Prolonged hypertrophy is a major predictor of heart failure and sudden death. Identification of the signaling molecules is necessary for the development of therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse the disease. Recent researches have found that there were different signaling pathways activated in cardiac hypertrophy, but the molecular mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy is not completely elucidated so far. In this review, we summarize recent insights into hypertrophic signaling pathways.