Petruk N. Ontogenetic reorganizations of intercellular interactions of cardiomyocytes in the rat myocardium in norm and chronic prenatal hypoxic injury.

The thesis is devoted to the development of the specialized contact apparatus of contractile cardiomyocytes in the rat ventricular myocardium during ontogenesis in normal conditions and after influence of chronic prenatal hypoxia. It was determined that alterations of the contact apparatus caused by hypoxia during prenatal ontogenesis begin from gap junction; the rate of new contact structures formation is retarded. It was shown, that after the birth deferred effects of hypoxia on the contact apparatus are observed including the formation of untypical lateral gap junctions that have not completed their redistribution toward intercalated disc. Features of ontogenetic changes of the spatial distribution of specialized intercellular junctions during the formation of definitive structure of the intercalated disc were determined; geometry and morphological maturity of the intercalated disc in normal conditions and after chronic prenatal hypoxia were assessed.