Cell signaling of adjacent cells. In cardiac muscle, gap junctions between adjacent cells allows for action potential propagation from the cardiac pacemaker region of the heart to spread and coordinately cause contraction of the heart. The notch signaling mechanism is an example of juxtacrine signaling (also known as contact-dependent signaling) in which two adjacent cells must make physical contact in order to communicate. This requirement for direct contact allows for very precise control of cell differentiation during embryonic development. In the worm "Caenorhabditis elegans", two cells of the developing gonad each have an equal chance of terminally differentiating or becoming a uterine
Heart rate turbulence normal cardiac cycle, so the ventricles of the heart haven't had time to fill up to their normal level, before contracting and pumping their contents out. This results in a pulse (blood pressure) weaker than expected and triggers normal homeostatic mechanisms that try to compensate by constricting arteries and increasing heart rate (the turbulence onset part of HRT). This is accomplished by the brain reflexively withdrawing the parasympathetic nerve signals and increasing the sympathetic nerve signals it sends to the heart. The compensatory constriction of the arteries and increased heart rate frequently cause blood pressure to oveshoot normal values (overcompensates),