To further examine the causal relationships between ALDH2-induced mechanical and mitochondrial responses in diabetes, cardiomyocytes from control FVB mice were exposed to high glucose (25.5 mM) in the absence or presence of the ALDH2 activator Alda-1 (20 μM), the mitochondrial uncoupler FCCP (1 μM) or the GSK3β inhibitor SB216763 (10 μM) for 12 hours [6,9,30] prior to an assessment of mechanical and biochemical properties. The gene discussed is ALDH2; the disease is diabetes mellitus.