Grant: Operating Grant

Human studies have shown that excessive fat storage occurs in the heart muscle in obese and diabetic patients. This accumulation of fat within the contractile cells of the heart has been shown to cause the heart to function poorly. As such, patients with this condition may be more susceptible to other conditions that also damage the heart. Since excessive fat storage in the heart muscle is typically observed in patients with high levels of fat in their blood, most of the research into this condition has focused on how the heart muscle takes up fat and how it burns fat for fuel. However, very few studies have investigated how the fats are stored and what controls this process. The experiments proposed in this grant application will investigate a protein that regulates the amount of fats stored vs. the amount used by the heart to produce energy. We will study how this protein is affected by dietary increases in fat and the result that this has on heart function. As there is a growing number of overweight or obese individuals in our society resulting from a number of factors including increased dietary fat intake, there is an expected rise in the number of people who will develop this heart condition. Therefore, our studies may allow us to identify drug targets that will help treat patients at risk for, or who have developed, this specific heart condition.