LOS ANGELES, March 18 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international study has described for the first time the mechanisms by which variants of the gene CAPON can disrupt normal heart rhythm.
The researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Johns Hopkins University and the China Medical University and Hospital in Taiwan said CAPON, until recently, wasn't suspected of existing in heart tissue or playing a role in heart function.
The study, conducted in guinea pigs, not only confirmed CAPON naturally exists in the heart's ventricles but also showed CAPON interacts with a signaling molecule in heart muscle to influence signaling pathways and modify cell-to-cell interactions that control the heart's electrical currents.
The research, led by Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, appeared in the March 12 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
--
Copyright 2008 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
--
