Initiation of stress protein synthesis in the myocardium of coronary patients.

We studied myocardial biopsy specimens from the right atrium of cardiological patients with different degree of cardiac ischemia obtained during surgery. No inducible HSP70 stress proteins were detected in atrial cardiomyocytes of patients with the WPW syndrome without signs of ischemic injuries of the heart. These proteins were detected in the myocardium of coronary patients. Their expression was more intense in patients with coronary disease paralleled by the development of myocardial dyskinesia. Two-dimensional electrophoresis showed only acid HSP70 but no alkaline isoforms in coronary patients even with pronounced dyskinesia. Presumably, alkaline HSP70 isoforms are present in the myocardium directly involved in the dyskinesia zone.