Interestingly, IGF1R and gp130 are activated in hypertrophic hearts and contribute to the initiation of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure as a response to pathological hypertrophic stress (Toyozaki et al., 1993; Hirota et al., 1995, 1999; Pan et al., 1998; Yasukawa et al., 2001; Matsui et al., 2002, 2003). Here, IGF1R is linked to heart failure.