Scientists have identified a gene that regulates heart rhythm
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Researchers have identified a gene on which the quality of cell-cell contacts in the conduction system of the heart depends . Disturbances in his work caused mismatch and poor distribution of the neuromuscular signal in the cardiac muscle.
Cardiac arrhythmia is one of the most common diseases, and its combination with other cardiovascular ailments inevitably leads to an imminent death. According to statistics, only in the US about 300 thousand people die each year due to heart attacks complicated by arrhythmia.
As is known, the normal work of the heart is determined by an agreed reduction in muscle fibers, which in turn depends on the rapid and coordinated spread of the electrical pulse over the cardiomyocytes. Dissynchronization of excitation and contraction in various parts of the heart and leads to arrhythmia.
Although the symptoms of this disease have long been well known, the reasons for its occurrence, alas, can not be said. In this sense, the results obtained by a group of scientists from the Gladstone Institute (San Francisco, USA) are extremely important. In an article published in the journal PNAS, researchers report that they managed to find a gene on which the heart rhythm depends. It is called Irx3 and is part of the group of so-called homeotic genes. These genes encode various transcription factors, which play a big role in the processes of organ and tissue formation.
Obviously, the transfer of excitation from the cell to the cell is possible only with normal intercellular contact. Irx3 just regulates the synthesis of two proteins of connexins, which form dense intercellular connections in the conduction system of the heart. We can say that the Irx3 factor monitors the density of contacts in the electrical circuit (and the contacts differ in different parts of this circuit). In mice with the Irx3 gene turned off, the electrical impulse spread slowly and hardly reached the destination. As a consequence, the animals developed violent arrhythmia, since the neuromuscular signals were mismatched.
In the future, scientists are going to check whether there is a connection between cases of arrhythmia and mutations in the Irx3 gene. If there is, this will open the way for the creation of gene therapy for severe cardiovascular disorders.
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