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overview
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Primary focus of my lab is to understand the molecular basis of heart failure, particularly, the role played by the chromatin remodeling enzymes in muscle gene regulation, cellular senescence and cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Heart failure is a pathological state in which the heart is unable to pump blood at a rate commensurate with requirements of the metabolizing tissues. It is usually caused by a defect in myocardial contraction. Reduced myocardial contractile function may reflect a decrease in number of viable myocytes, dysfunction of viable myocytes, or alterations to the intrinsic contractile activity of individual myocytes. At the molecular level, several abnormalities have been observed, including alterations in the expression of numerous genes that are central to the normal structure and function of the heart; however, the basic mechanism of heart failure is not yet fully understood. With recent advancements in cell biology, it has become clear that factors modifying chromatin structure, e.g. histone deacetylases, acetyltransferases and sirtuins play a fundamental role in this process. In addition to modifying chromatin structure, these enzymes also play a role out side the nucleus. We are trying to understand how these enzymes modify mitochondrial proteins and regulate the cell-survivability and contractile function, in response to various pathophysiological stresses, including obesity/diabetes, hemodynamic overloads and aging.
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