Searching for ways to prevent cell death and inflammation in heart failure

Non-apoptotic cell death in heart failure

Data from 2015 suggests that nearly half a million people are living with heart failure in the UK. This is when the heart lacks the strength to pump blood around the body efficiently. BHF Professor Kinya Otsu is one of the world’s leading experts in the mechanisms that underlie cell death during heart failure. Heart cell death and inflammation are important in heart failure. Professor Otsu has shown that these processes can be caused by the body's own DNA leaking out of structures inside the damaged heart cell, called mitochondria. The problem arises because mitochondrial DNA resembles DNA from bacteria, so its presence triggers inflammation. A protein called Bcl2-like protein 13 is important for dismantling damaged mitochondria. Now Professor Otsu’s team will examine if this protein could be boosted to do its job more efficiently and avoid the DNA escape that induces inflammation. They will also investigate the effect of increasing the breakdown of molecules called cytokine mRNAs, which could help to shorten the period of inflammation. Heart failure can be treated, but not cured. By identifying ways to prevent inflammation and cell death it is hoped that future treatments could vastly improve the outlook for people living with heart failure.