Promising target in treating and preventing the progression of heart failure identified
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 18:31
in Health & Medicine
Researchers have identified a new drug target that may treat and/or prevent heart failure. The team evaluated failing human and pig hearts and discovered that SUMO1, a so-called "chaperone" protein that regulates the activity of key transporter genes, was decreased in failing hearts. When the researchers injected SUMO1 into these hearts via gene therapy, cardiac function was significantly improved.