If they survive this early vulnerable period, such mice later succumb to heart failure from a dilated cardiomyopathy, caused by disruption of both cell–matrix and cell–cell junctions.24, 25 Vinculin also is known to interact with zonula occludens (ZO)-1 in the cardiac myocyte; with vinculin deficiency, an associated reduction in ZO-1 occurs.25 This evidence concerns the gene VCL and heart failure.