Changes in the crystallographic structures of cardiac myosin filaments detected by polarization-dependent second harmonic generation microscopy

Detecting the structural changes caused by volume and pressure overload is critical to comprehending the mechanisms of physiologic and pathologic hypertrophy. This study explores the structural changes at the crystallographic level in myosin filaments in volume- and pressure-overloaded myocardia through polarization-dependent second harmonic generation microscopy. Here, for the first time, we report that the ratio of nonlinear susceptibility tensor components d33/d15 increased significantly in volume- and pressure-overloaded myocardial tissues compared with the ratio in normal mouse myocardial tissues. Through cell stretch experiments, we demonstrated that mechanical tension plays an important role in the increase of d33/d15 in volume- and pressure-overloaded myocardial tissues.