5.1 million people across the United States are diagnosed with heart failure and around 50% of these patients will die within five years of a diagnosis. Now, researchers from the Indiana University School Of Medicine have uncovered a cardiac molecule that, they claimed, could potentially stop this life-threatening condition in its tracks.
Heart failure is a condition that is characterized by the heart's inability to pump sufficient blood and oxygen throughout the body in order to support the organs and other bodily functions. This condition can be caused by several different medical conditions including heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
In this latest study, researchers are saying that prevention and treatment strategies for heart failure can be augmented by the discovery of a long, non-coding RNA molecule, which they are now referring to as the myosin heavy-chain-associated RNA transcript or "Myheart." RNA is responsible for DNA coding, carrying the cell's blueprints for creating proteins that are needed for cell activities. Myheart molecules do not carry such instructions, but act on their own and their role in cardiac functions has been a mystery. However, results from the research showed how the long, non-coding RNA Myheart molecule is able to control BRG1, which is a protein that is crucial to the development of the heart in a fetus. Normally, the BRG1 levels in mature hearts are very low, but when the heart is subjected to stress such as damage from heart attack or hypertension, these levels rise significantly, and when this happens the production of the Myheart molecule stops. The BRG1 then attaches to the DNA and alters the heart's genetic material, resulting to heart failure.
During the experiment, scientists restored Myheart to normal levels using gene transfer technology. This prevented the BRG1 from altering the heart's genetic material and prevented heart failure in the test subjects. Dr. Ching-Pin Chang, lead researcher, says that, " I think of Myheart as a molecular crowbar that price BRG1 off the genomic DNA and prevents it from manipulating genetic activity." The research team is now in the process of identifying parts of the molecule that can be used for blocking the BRG1 protein for use in human trials.