Grant: Foundation Grant

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac rhythm disorder. It can cause a host of problems, including reduced physical capacity, chest discomfort, heart fluttering, heart failure and strokes, and increases the chance of dying. Present treatments are inadequate. In this program, we hope to continue our work which has provided a much better understanding of the causes of AF and led to improved treatment. We will examine how changes in cell calcium handling lead to the problem, we will study the determinants of effectiveness and toxicity of drug therapy used to treat it, will evaluate how control of gene-expression in the cardiac-cell nucleus is altered by changes in nuclear signalling, and study how the extra metabolic needs caused by AF lead to the perpetuation of the arrhythmia. This work will lead to improved understanding of what causes AF and to better ways to prevent and treat it.