Heart failure, the most-common cause of hospitalization in North American adults, might be turned on by simply flicking a switch--a "pink" one. It's actually a protein switch called PINK1, and it can trigger a cascade of events leading to heart failure, according to researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Center in Toronto.
"Our research suggests that PINK1 is an important switch that sets off a cascade of events affecting heart cell metabolism," Phyllis Billia, heart-failure specialist at Peter Munk said in a news release. "This could be one of the inciting events in the development of heart failure."
Until now, research into the PINK1 gene has focused on its links to early-onset Parkinson's disease and certain cancers. This is the first time it's been associated with heart failure. What the researchers did was "knock out," or genetically remove, the PINK1 gene in mice. Initially, the little creatures did fine. After two months, their hearts began to fail, suggesting that while PINK1 isn't required for organ development, it is crucial in protecting against heart failure.
Billia said the discovery represents a new way of thinking about the role some proteins play in the progression of heart failure. "We need to learn more about PINK1 and the other proteins it interacts with at the sub-cellular level," Billia said in a news release. "But if we've identified the inciting event that causes the chain of events leading to failure, research and drug development strategies should be focused in this new area of science."
- read the release
- and the abstract in PNAS