Whereas wild-type mice activate a compensatory hypertrophic response after 4 weeks following aortic stenosis, Melusin-null mice fail to activate this program and rapidly develop a dilated cardiomyopathy with left ventricle dilation, chamber wall thinning, and impaired contractility (Brancaccio et al., 2003). The gene discussed is ITGB1BP2; the disease is dilated cardiomyopathy.