FAU Patent Gives Hope to Cardiovascular Disease Sufferers

An invention discovered by researchers at the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) was the basis for FAU receiving U.S. patent no. 10/822,496, "Promoting Cardiac Cell Differentiation." According to FAU, their two researchers Dr. Larry F. Lemanski and Dr. Chi Zhang have developed a way to induce and restore muscle function to cardiac cells. This is a giant leap towards creating a therapy treatment that could one day be used on cardiac patients.

Their research focused on cell differentiation of the cardiac muscles. They observed molecular as well as genetic signals and the regulation of the synthesis of contractile proteins. Their goal was to understand the means that control the heart muscle differentiation and how proteins are altered in the heart muscle cells of developing hearts.

Once a heart cell is damaged it cannot repair itself, additionally, when a person is born with a cardiac defect research shows the cells in their hearts are unable to repair themselves. It is believed that cardiac birth defects cause an unstable electrical communication between the cells, thus resulting in the inability for repair.

Their research has found a protein that may be the cause for terminal differentiation, according to FAU. By treating this mutant defect with a particular ribonucleic acid (RNA) the damaged cells could be salvaged. The researchers cloned the gene in this particular RNA and have shown that it restarts cell differentiation and promotes development in cardiac muscle cells. According to FAU, the researchers are naming their discovery "myofibrillogenesis inducing RNA" (MIR).

When a person has a heart attack some of the cells of the heart die. Presently there is no treatment to bring the heart back to pre-attack condition. Heart attack sufferers must change their lifestyles and limit their activities. With the help of researchers like Dr. Larry F. Lemanski and Dr. Chi Zhang, there is a chance to develop a treatment to regenerate these dead cells creating a better quality of life for heart attack suffers.