Adhesion of cardiac myocytes to extracellular matrix components.

The interaction of ECM components with adult cardiac myocytes is not well understood, but is of physiological importance. Most physiological studies are conducted on myocytes in suspension yet in vivo the cells are attached to each other and to the ECM. In this paper, we further define the interaction of isolated adult myocytes with the ECM substrates. Of interest is not only the short-term attachment of cells to ECM substrates but also the ability of ECM components to support the long-term maintenance of cardiac myocytes in cultures.