Studying a master switch that underlies heart hypertrophy

Investigating a novel regulator of cardiac hypertrophy

The heart’s specialised muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, help pump blood around the body. Stress or damage can force the heart to work harder, which causes the cells to adapt to the workload by growing larger, a process called hypertrophy. In the short term this helps the heart to continue pumping, however over time, cardiomyocytes start to die which causes heart failure. With no cure, new treatments for heart failure are in need. Dr Budhram Mahadeo has been awarded a PhD studentship to look at the genes which cause the heart cells to grow, and at what point these changes become harmful. In particular, the student will study the Brn-3b gene in mice, a gene which can turn genes on or off. The researchers are monitoring how the gene is involved in changing heart cell size in response to stress. This project will increase our understanding of how the heart copes with stress, and how long term stress can cause heart cells to die. With this knowledge the researchers can find ways of blocking these damaging effects. These results will increase our understanding of the changes that help heart cells to cope with stress and why long term stresses cause heart cells to die. The ultimate goal is to identify strategies that can be used to increase the beneficial responses and at the same time block damaging changes.