Cardiac function on the shoulders of a giant: Insights into the titin puzzle

Speaker: Professor Wolfgang A. Linke

Abstract title: Cardiac function on the shoulders of a giant: Insights into the titin puzzle

The muscle protein titin holds the distinction of being the largest in our body. Its discovery traces back half a century, yet its profound significance has only gradually unfolded. Here, I will recollect some well-known properties of titin in the heart, delving into the fundamental aspects of its structure and functionality in both health and disease contexts, including topics such as isoform switching and posttranslational modifications. Furthermore, I will examine titin's contribution to overall myocardial stiffness, juxtaposing its role with that of other contributors. Additionally, I will present novel evidence highlighting its significance, as evidenced by insights gleaned from a scenario of "heart life without titin stiffness." Lastly, I will shed light on titin's involvement in length-dependent activation and its impact on the Frank-Starling law of the heart, elucidating its crucial role in cardiac mechanosensation.

Bio:

Wolfgang Linke received a Ph.D. from the University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) and postdoctoral training at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA). He was a Research Assistant Professor at Institute of Physiology, University of Heidelberg (Germany), Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at University of Munster (Germany), and Professor for Cardiovascular Physiology at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany). Currently he is the Chair of Physiology and Director of the Institute of Physiology II at University Medicine Munster and Guest Professor at University Medicine Gottingen (Germany). His scientific interests include basic and translational research on heart failure and cardiomyopathies, with a focus on cardiomyocyte function. He is a Fellow of the ISHR, the ESC, and Gottingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities of Lower Saxony academician.