Researchers have developed a non-coding RNA that helps the heart to block a certain protein which has been known for its ability to create genetic disruptions.
Considering that heart failure being is one of the most common heart problems experienced, researchers have finally dug out something that promises the possibility of better treatment as well as prevention for it in the future. They have come up with a certain molecule that gives the heart a tool that blocks the key protein that leads to heart failure.
The newly discovered non-coding RNA is called “Myheart”. It helps the heart to block BRG1, which is a protein that triggers genetic disruptions when the heart is exposed to lots of stress such as in the form of high blood pressure.
Ching-Pin Chang, an associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine in the US, said, “I think of Myheart (myosin heavy-chain-associated RNA transcript) as a molecular crowbar that pries BRG1 off the genomic DNA and prevents it from manipulating genetic activity”.
The heart’s genetic activity gets altered when it is exposed to significant stress like high blood pressure and as mentioned earlier, it is triggered by the protein, thus eventually causing heart failure. In mice that have stress-induced high levels of BRG1 protein, the researchers were successfully able to restore Myheart to normal levels with the help of gene transfer technology. With the restoration of Myheart levels, the actions of BRG1 were blocked, which prevented the prospect of heart failure. Even though the results in the mice directly suggest testing of Myheart against heart failure in adult humans, it is by molecular standards too large to be made available as a drug. The researchers are currently trying to identify smaller portions of the Myheart molecule that are important because of their ability to block the BRG1 protein. This subsection of the Myheart molecule is likely to lead to a compound to test in human trials.
The study was published in the journal Nature.
Article source: Zeenews
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