The Beat Goes On: Research Yields Two 'Firsts' Regarding Protein Crucial to Human Cardiac Function
Friday, August 31, 2012 - 09:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Florida State University researchers led by physics doctoral student Campion Loong have achieved significant benchmarks in a study of the human cardiac protein alpha-tropomyosin, which is an essential, molecular-level component that controls the heart's contraction on every beat. Using an imaging method called atomic force microscopy, Loong achieved two "firsts": the first direct imaging of individual alpha-tropomyosin molecules and the first demonstrated examples of a measure of the human cardiac protein's flexibility.