GNAQ and cardiac hypertrophy: Ang II, which binds toangiotensin II type I receptor (AT1R) on the surface of cardiac myocytes,activates the Gαq protein and phospholipase C (PLC), leading to theproduction of diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3).IP3 increases intracellular calcium levels, increasing myocardialcontractility through the calcium-calmodulin kinase II pathway [18, 27].Initially, Ang II stimulation enables the heart to cope with higher afterloads.However, chronic stimulation of Ang II through sustained Gαq activationleads to myocardial hypertrophy [28].