Understanding how the heart adapts to high blood pressure

Striatin regulation of cardiac hypertrophy (Mr Joshua Cull)

High blood pressure puts strain on the heart and, if untreated, can cause permanent changes to heart cells which may later lead to heart failure. These changes are controlled by signals between and within heart cells, some of which influence the heart cell structure and how the cells interact. A molecule called striatin is known to regulate cell structure and how cells interact with each other. Professor Clerk believes that striatin could play a vital role in how heart cells are organised and structured in the heart. Her research has already suggested that striatin is necessary for a normal heart to respond to high blood pressure. This studentship will expand on this research to investigate the effects of striatin on heart structure and function, using echocardiography and changes in cell shape and biology. Her team are particularly interested in understanding whether striatin controls a family of molecules called germinal centre kinases (GCKs), which are needed for normal heart function as GCKs allow the heart to adapt to increased demands. The will explore how GCKs are controlled, to determine which ones are regulated by striatin in the heart. The researchers believe their findings may identify points in the path towards heart failure where it may be possible to intervene with treatments.