UCLA study challenges common theories on how heart disease develops

This study tells us that simply changing the way genes are packed together — even by a little bit — can have a widespread effect on the functioning of cells,” Vondriska said. This observation suggests treatments that restore the right arrangement of the chromatin might be able to restore pr oper genome-wide functioning, he said.“This is startling and quite exciting because it allows us to challenge assumptions about how cells work and about what causes disease — in this case, heart failure, which affects over 5 million Americans,” Vondriska said.The protein that investigators deleted is called CTCF, which is one of a number of chromatin structural proteins in cardio myocytes (heart cells), as well as in cells of other organs and tissues.  The study had two phases. The first was to use a technique known as “chromatin conformation capture” to map the 3-D shape of cardio myocte chromatin in healthy mice — the first time this has been done.  A genome-wide measurement of RNA expression was also conducted to assess the activity of each gene in the genome.The “atlas” that resulted showed a structure that resembled a head of broccoli — different length loops of DNA, wrapped around histones, which allowed genes to work with each other.“We knew precisely which genes were close enough to be co-regulated. They worked together as a team,” said Manuel Rosa-Garrido, the study’s first author and a member of Vondriska’s team.“The second phase was to examine...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news