Grant: Operating Grant

Cardiovascular disease is one of the major health burdens in developed countries at the estimated cost of ~over $340 billion of total healthcare spending. The overall rate of death attributable to cardiovascular diseases is 230 per 100,000 (1 death every 40 seconds). Responses to stress are an integral part of cardiovascular physiology and pathology. For example, the Western-style diet commonly consumed in industrialized societies and significantly increases risk of heart disease. The Western-style diet is high in saturated fat (e.g., from palm oil) and refined sugar (fructose). Excess of fructose may be the key factor leading to heart disease. We study a cardiac membrane system called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which under stress conditions reacts by developing specific stress responses inside the heart that may prevent or lead to cardiac pathology. Our research focuses on understanding of Western-style diet-induced cardiac stress and on the development of basic and clinical tools to control stress responses in the heart. This will provide new targets for drug discovery and treatment of heart disease.