View source for 14. Molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular damages

Many intracellular signalling pathways are sensitive to reactive oxygen species, or <abbr>ROS</abbr>. The main sources of ROS in cardiac muscle cells are ''NO synthases, NADPH oxidases'' and mitochondria. Low levels of ROS may not be pathological and is necessary for some pathways, but high levels result in significant pathology. Mostly, ROS disturb posttranslational modifications of proteins involved in signalling, which disturbs the signalling.