This text contains original research papers as well as invited reviews, and is dedicated, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of the Heart Research Group in Berlin-Buch that today forms a part of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, to Professor Albert Wollenberger, founder of the Heart Research Group and for 21 years its head. The papers in this issue are written by researchers working in the field of cardiovascular research who, together with Albert Wollenberger, share the belief that an integrative application of advances in molecular and cellular biology will lead to new concepts for treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.