Scientists have discovered the mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy

 Scientists at the National Cardiovascular Research Center (CNIC) have discovered a new mechanism involved in the regulation of cardiac hypertrophy

The findings, published in the journal Circulation Research, may stimulate the development of new tools for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy, especially in patients with Cushing’s syndrome

Dr.

The contractile function of the heart depends on the activity of cardiomyocytes

An example of this ability is the response to aortic stenosis

Although cardiomyocytes cannot divide, Dr.

However, although this response was effective at first, thickening of the left ventricular wall (thickness of the heart muscle) triggers structural changes in the heart, leading to a gradual loss of contractility

Dr.

Researchers found that mice lacking the rna-binding protein SRSF4 developed myocardial hypertrophy and impaired myocardial relaxation.

Further analysis showed that the deletion of SRSF4 severely reduced the expression of non-coding RNA GAS5

The first author, Dr.

The research team concluded that identifying the srsf4-gas5-glucocorticoid receptor cell signaling pathway is an important advancement in characterizing the molecular mechanism of cardiac hypertrophy and may lay the foundation for new treatments

In addition, the findings may be “especially applicable to patients with Cushing’s syndrome, whose heart hypertrophy is partly activated by glucocorticoid receptors

Analysis of samples from patients with Cushing’s syndrome showed that the expression of SRSF4 and GAS5 was dysregulated to a certain extent; however, the possible role of this pathway in the disease needs further study
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DOI 10.
1016 / j.
jacc.
2021.
07.
003

The SRSF4–GAS5-Glucocorticoid Receptor Axis Regulates Ventricular Hypertrophy