Grant: Operating Grant

Heart attacks are leading causes of deaths in the world. They are medically known as myocardial infarctions and occur when blood and oxygen supplies to a part of the heart are blocked. These in turn cause the heart cells in the damaged and surrounding areas to adapt and/or die which can result in heart failure and ultimately death. DNAs are blueprints that contain instructions to make sure our bodies function properly. DNA damages can cause cell injury, cell adaptations and cell death. Our objective is to determine if BRCA1, a gene that promotes DNA repair, can protect heart function by reducing heart cell injury and adaptability. We will use animal and cell models. We have made a mouse that does not have the BRCA1 gene in the heart. We will study how injuries to the heart affect heart function as well as heart cell survival and changes in these mice. We will also give BRCA1 to some of these mice to check if heart function, heart cell survival and changes in heart cells are different from those mice that have not been given BRCA1. We will shut off or increase the BRCA1 signal in heart cells from rats to study how heart cells respond to different types of stresses. This is the first project that aims to study how the breast cancer gene BRCA1 may be involved in cell adaptations and survival following heart injuries. We believe that this approach will help us better understand how and why heart diseases happen and how to make new and better drugs for these illnesses.