London: Researchers have identified two proteins that can control the growth of heart and help in designing new strategies to treat cardiac failure caused by excessive growth of the organ. The proteins – p38 gamma and p38 delta – that control heart growth have been identified by researchers led by Guadalupe Sabio from the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Spain.
“This new information could help in the design of new strategies to combat heart conditions caused by anomalous growth of heart muscle,” said Sabio in a paper in the journal Nature Communications.
Sabio’s group has found that p38 gamma and p38 delta regulate the growth of the left ventricle, the largest and strongest heart chamber, responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to the body. “The research team showed that the hearts of mice lacking these proteins are smaller than normal. These hearts, although they function normally, are incapable of responding to external stimuli, such as high blood pressure,” the paper said.
“The heart adapts to the changing needs of each stage of life by adjusting its size. In this way the heart grows in line with the rest of our body, including during pregnancy, in a process called cardiac hypertrohpy,” it said. However, excessive physical exercise, hypertension, and obesity can trigger excessive heart growth (pathological hypertrophy), a situation that can lead to a heart attack.
The discovery advances understanding of the mechanisms through which heart cells grow and adapt.
