Winter 2024
Troponin I Tyrosine Phosphorylation Beneficially Accelerates Diastolic Function
Brandon Biesiadecki, PhD & Jill Rafael-Fortney, PhD
“We have demonstrated that tyrosine kinase phosphorylation of TnI is a novel mechanism to directly and beneficially accelerate myocardial relaxation in vivo.”
RAB7 Deficiency impairs pulmonary artery endothelial function and promotes pulmonary hypertension
Laszlo Farkas, MD, Rama Mallampalli, MD, Ana Mora, MD, Mauricio Rojas, MD, Jeffrey Horowitz, MD & Nuo Sun, PhD
“Here, we explored the role of RAB7 in endothelial cell (EC) function and lung vascular homeostasis. We found reduced expression of RAB7 in ECs from patients with PAH. Endothelial haploinsufficiency of RAB7 caused spontaneous pulmonary hypertension (PH) in mice. Silencing of RAB7 in ECs induced broad changes in gene expression revealed via RNA-Seq, and RAB7-silenced ECs showed impaired angiogenesis and expansion of a senescent cell fraction, combined with impaired endolysosomal trafficking and degradation, suggesting inhibition of autophagy at the predegradation level…”
MicroRNA-1 Deficiency is a Primary Etiological Factor Disrupting Cardiac Contractility and Electrophysiological Homeostatis
Jidong Fu, MD, Loren Wold, PhD, Peter Mohler, PhD, Tom Hund, PhD, & Isabelle Deschenes, PhD
“miR1 deficiency acts as a primary etiological factor in inducing cardiac remodeling via disrupting heart regulatory homeostasis. Achieving stable and appropriate microRNA expression levels in the heart is critical for effective microRNA-based therapy in cardiovascular diseases.”
iCEPT Calculator: A Web-Based Application to Standardize the Calculation of Alpha Distensibility in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Rebecca Vanderpool, PhD
"The interactive user interface in the iCPET calculator allows exploration of alpha distensibility using standardized methods. No significant change in alpha distensibility at follow-up suggests that alpha may be less modifiable in patients with long-standing pulmonary arterial hypertension.”