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Science 17 April 1998:
Vol. 280. no. 5362, p. 383
DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5362.383
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Research News

HEART DISEASE:
Signaling Path May Lead to Better Heart-Failure Therapies

Marcia Barinaga

An overstressed heart muscle tries to compensate by growing bigger. But although this strategy works at first, the muscle eventually loses its elasticity; in this state, called congestive heart failure, the heart is inefficient at pumping blood and prone to arrhythmias that cause sudden death. In today's issue of Cell, a research team reports finding an internal signaling pathway in cardiac muscle cells that, when pushed into overdrive, can cause heart failure in mice. What's more, the team showed that the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A inhibits this pathway, blocking heart failure in the animals. If the same pathway plays a similar role in human heart failure, it may be possible to halt or even reverse the condition, either with cyclosporin A or other drugs that can inhibit the pathway.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Hypertrophy and dilation: a TOTally new story?.
S. Baudet (2000)
Cardiovasc Res 46, 17-19
   Full Text »    PDF »
Signaling in Myocardial Hypertrophy : Life After Calcineurin?.
P. H. Sugden (1999)
Circ. Res. 84, 633-646
   Full Text »    PDF »
Pressure Overload Induces Severe Hypertrophy in Mice Treated With Cyclosporine, an Inhibitor of Calcineurin.
B. Ding, R. L. Price, T. K. Borg, E. O. Weinberg, P. F. Halloran, and B. H. Lorell (1999)
Circ. Res. 84, 729-734
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cyclosporine Attenuates Pressure-Overload Hypertrophy in Mice While Enhancing Susceptibility to Decompensation and Heart Failure.
T. Meguro, C. Hong, K. Asai, G. Takagi, T. A. McKinsey, E. N. Olson, and S. F. Vatner (1999)
Circ. Res. 84, 735-740
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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