A Gene Tweak Could Keep Heart Young
MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Japanese scientists have prevented age-related deterioration in the hearts of mice by suppressing the activity of a gene involved in the insulin-signaling system that helps regulate the life span of cells, and they say the finding is potentially applicable to the control of heart failure in humans.
"A lifelong genetic modification of the human heart is not possible," said Dr. Tetsuo Shioi, an assistant professor of medicine at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, and lead author of the report in the Oct. 12 online edition of Circulation. "However, drugs that lower insulin are available and can prevent cardiac aging, increase exercise tolerance and reduce heart failure in middle-aged to aged members of the population."
Shioi and his colleagues have been working with the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) gene, which is the subject of intense activity in many U.S. and foreign laboratories. The gene plays an important role in both the aging and proliferation of cells, and research is aimed at developing gene therapy not only for heart disease but also for some forms of cancer.
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