Beschreibung:
The guanine exchange factor p63RhoGEF was identified as a specific activator of the RhoGTPase RhoA and its transcript was found to be abundant in brain and heart tissue. Amongst cardiac cells, the highest expression of p63RhoGEF was detected in smooth muscle cells and cardiac fibroblasts. Within this thesis the relevance of p63RhoGEF in the healthy myocardium and under pathological conditions was under investigation with a special focus on its function in cardiac fibroblasts in the context of auto- and paracrine signaling. In a model of cardiac fibrosis, in which wild type mice were subject...