Is the protein RSK1 involved in the development of heart failure?

p90 ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (RSK1) and the regulation of gene expression in pathological and physiological cardiac hypertrophy

Professor Angela Clerk is studying heart muscle cells and the genes that control how they increase in size, a process called hypertrophy. Hypertrophy happens when heart muscle cells have to work harder, for instance when a person has high blood pressure, or when the heart becomes damaged, such as after a heart attack. Although this benefits the heart in the short term, if the heart muscle continues to increase in size, hypertrophy can lead to heart failure. Proteins called ‘p90 ribosomal S6 kinases’ regulate genes that are involved in hypertrophy. Professor Clerk has found that one of these proteins, called RSK2, could be beneficial in helping heart muscle cells become hypertrophic in the short term. Further evidence suggests that if a similar protein, RSK1, is activated, the heart cells continue to undergo hypertrophy, potentially leading to heart failure. In this project, Professor Clerk will test this relationship between RSK1 and RSK2 in hypertrophy. She will manipulate RSK1 and RSK2 in the heart muscle cells of mice and study how it affects growth and death of these cells. She is also looking at which genes are controlled by RSK1 to understand how it exerts its effects. This research will show whether blocking RSK1 or the genes it controls could be beneficial and may lead to a new way to treat heart failure.