Function and significance of integrin-linked kinase in heart

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a widely expressed protein kinase that relate to cellular growth and differentiation. It is most abundant in the heart. Recently, many researches revealed that ILK is highly relevant to cardiac response to biomechanical stresses. Also, ILK plays important roles in regulation of the occurrence and development of cardiac hypertrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, viral myocarditis and myocardial senescence via correlation to several classical signal transduction pathway. Meanwhile, ILK functions in protection after myocardial infarction. This article will try to summarize the effects and relevant mechanism of ILK in above-mentioned aspects, overall reveals the roles of ILK in heart and its potential clinical significance.