Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise Against Heart Failure

Millions of Americans suffer from heart failure. Gene Therapy may be a new option to solve this problem. Dr. Justine Lachmann who directs the Hearth Failure Program at Winthrop-University Hospital in New York states, "This type of intervention would be the ultimate method to reconstruction of damaged heart tissue so it can be mechanically functional again." The current method of treatment is to change the chemical signals in the body that affect the body but the long term outcomes still are the same. The Gene therapy process would involve transfer the gene into the heart cell and once in place would produce a protein called AC6 which are low in failing hearts, by safely increasing the left ventricular function beyond the optimal heart failure.  This type of therapy has diminished heart failure by 40 percent out of a total of 56 patients. Patients tend to stay healthier after treatment, 29 percent of people that use the placebo method of treatment end up admitted into the hospital a year later, as compared to gene therapy, which is 9.5 percent. The intervention can help reconstruct the original architecture of the heart and almost be renewal of the heart. 

I believe this new research is a break through, with keeping toxic chemicals out of our system. Fixing the heart itself on its own with a little help is better than bringing in outside chemicals that can change our body as a whole. With no device and no drug induction, people would be able to live a happier life and not be admitted into the hospital frequently. Nothing is worse than feeling that a person cannot live a normal life, due to limits of their heart. Maybe in the near future there wont be a need for so much drugs, which will decrease the overdose of prescribed and over the counter drugs. 

Research For Muscle Mass Loss

On February 19, 2014, Arstechnica published an article called “Researchers ID Genetic Switch That Controls Muscle Repair System.” Scientists are doing research to find a cure for the loss of muscle mass and strength. The condition for loss of muscle mass and strength is called Sarcopenia. This is the reason why elders go loss in stamina and have difficulty walking. Scientist describes the mechanism of this disease. Certain cells, known as adult stem cells, maintain and repair organs in the body. These cells have two states, the resting state and the active state. These cells divide only when tissue repair is required. When the adult stem cells stop functioning, the organ’s repair system also stops. This normally occurs with aging. Diseases such as Sarcopenia arise as a result.
There is research is being done at Pompeu Fabra University, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, and CNIC in Spain. Researchers studied the active stem cells in mice. They noticed that the cells in the older mice go through irreversible changes that make them exit the resting state. This resulted in the older mice not being able to “self-renew” when needed.  The younger mice did not undergo that change.  Researchers found that the cells undergo these changes because of a key gene that controls the senescence known as p16INK4a. When this gene was blocked, the old cells responded to tissue injury and replenished the cell population. Researchers are hoping to selectively silence the p16INK4a. As a result the discovery will lead to a treatment that will restart the native tissue repair system in old cells.

This article was very informative. I believe that continuing the research will help lead to treatments that will help with the effects of aging. Discovering the key to the loss of muscle condition is a good start. I believe that discovering a treatment will be possible but it won’t be easy. For example, there is high risk that the treatment may be a carcinogen.  

New Muscle Repair Gene Discovered

Researchers from the University of Leeds School of Medicine and the Charite, Berlin, have discovered more about muscle stem cells using modern DNA sequencing techniques. The work investigated children who suffered from a progressive muscle disease, which caused their muscles and the diaphragm to be very weak. This causes them to have to use a wheelchair and continuous mechanical ventilation, as well as being tube fed due to problems with the esophagus. The condition is fairly devastating, and  researchers investigated children with this disease by using DNA sequencing technology. The research being done and the sequenced DNA allows for more accurate genetic testing and diagnosis. They found a defect in the MEGF10 gene for families in Europe, Asia, and the U.K. This MEGF10 gene plays an important role in muscle stem cells.  They are nicknamed 'satellite cells' because they attach to the outer surface of the muscle fibers where they remain dormant until a fiber is damaged. If a fiber gets damaged the cells start to divide and fuse with the muscle fibers. MEGF10 plays an important part in this fusion because it provides the sticky adhesive surface for the attachment.MEGF10 also has a role in maintaining the muscle during normal life. The sequencing of DNA as well as  the discovery of this new muscle repair gene will help in finding new treatments for muscle diseases.