Periodic Report Summary 1 - MRNA IN HEART (mRNA translational regulation in heart failure)
During this period of the study (six months), mRNA was collected from the myocardium of wild-type (WT) adult (2-month-old) sham-operated (sham) mice and from WT mice three days after transverse aortic constriction (TAC), a model in which blood pressure is greatly increased and myocardial stress induced. mRNA was also obtained from 4E-BP1-knock out (KO) mice before and three days after TAC. mRNA was also purified from ribosomes by immunoprecipitating them with an antibody specific for a protein component. cDNA libraries were generated and sequenced in our facility. Through this approach, we identified a pool of mRNAs which associated with ribosomes after stress and that therefore seems to be differentially regulated. In addition, we identified a pool of mRNAs which are regulated by 4E-BPs.
These results should be confirmed by further analyses, which will be carried out by other investigators. Eventually, we should be able to identify mRNAs intimately related to the control of cardiac function, a result which will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying heart failure and to new molecular tools which could be employed to combat this disease, which is one of the major health care burdens in the Western world.