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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jun 5.
Published in final edited form as: Circ Res. 2015 Jun 5;116(12):2005–2019. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.304679

Figure 3. Regulation of cardiac innervation patterning and sudden cardiac death.

Figure 3

Left, Overexpression or lack of sema3A in endocardium causes unbalanced patterning of sympathetic nerves, which alters the potential for lethal arrhythmia. Appropriate sema3A-mediated sympathetic innervation is crucial for maintenance of arrhythmia-free heart. Middle, Up-regulation of secreted nerve growth factor (NGF) from cardiomyocytes in diseased heart may cause lethal arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Right, Down-regulation of NGF in diabetic heart induces denervation of cardiac sensory nerve, which leads to silent ischemia and lethal arrhythmia.