CTVNews.ca Staff
Date: Sun. Mar. 4 2012 10:19 PM ET
(Excerpt)
Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum (Canada Research Chair in Cardiology, Principal Investigator in Cardiac Gene Biology, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, and professor, Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine) has for years studied damaged heart tissue, searching for clues about why these muscles never heal once they’ve been deprived of oxygen after a heart attack.
Now he’s discovered a gene that might help restore the damaged tissue.
Unlike other organs – such as the skin – heart tissue doesn’t heal itself when damaged. This is caused by a gene that actually tells the heart cells not to grow.
Dr. Kirshenbaum and his team have been chasing this gene for more than a decade.
“For us, it was initially disbelief that we’ve found it,” Dr. Kirshenbaum told CTV News.
“We identified a particular gene that gets switched on in heart cells when people are having a heart attack. Why that becomes so significant is because it identifies a potential target, a therapeutic target that we can turn on or turn off ultimately to prevent heart cells from dying.”
The breakthrough means scientists can begin work on developing a drug to repair heart muscles by regenerating new heart tissue. Another approach would be to prevent the existing heart cells from further deteriorating.
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