ILK and cardiac hypertrophy: Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a widely expressed serine/threonine protein kinase and an important biomechanical sensor which becomes activated upon cell-matrix interaction, thereby exerting a variety of biological functions including induction of angiogenesis and regulation of cardiac contractility [8], ventricular hypertrophy [9], cell proliferation, survival and differentiation [10], [11].