Dr. Kevin King’s Team at UC San Diego Discovers New Way to Prevent Heart Failure After Heart Attacks
California [US], August 30: Around the world, ischemic heart disease is the top cause of death. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), happens when part of the heart doesn’t get enough blood, causing that part to die. This can lead to heart failure, changes in the heart’s structure, and severe inflammation. Surprisingly, anti-inflammatory drugs haven’t been able to stop heart failure, so they aren’t usually used after a heart attack.
In the August 28, 2024 issue of Nature, researchers from the University of California San Diego, led by Dr. Kevin King, have found a new way that inflammation happens in the heart. This discovery could help prevent heart attacks from turning into heart failure. Normally, immune cells like neutrophils and macrophages cause inflammation by going to the damaged part of the heart. But Dr. King’s team found that a proinflammatory response called ‘type I interferon (IFN) response’ was happening in the borderzone, the area around the damaged part, not in the damaged part itself.
The borderzone is where the surviving heart cells try to recover and grow after being separated from the dying cells. It’s a hard area to study because it’s not easy to separate it from the rest of the heart. The researchers used special methods to study the borderzone cells based on their gene expression patterns. They created special mice that couldn’t start IFN signaling in different cell types to find out which cells start the inflammation in the borderzone. They found that heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes were the main ones starting the IFN signaling.
These stressed cardiomyocytes often had their nuclear envelopes break, letting nuclear DNA escape and be sensed by DNA sensors in the cell, which started the IFN signaling. This made the heart wall weaker and more likely to get damaged. The team had previously found that mice without IFN responses survived better after a heart attack.
Dr. King, who works in the Shu Chien Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering and the Division of Cardiology at UC San Diego, said that finding new ways to prevent heart failure after a heart attack is very important. The new findings suggest that reducing mechanical stress in the borderzone, stopping DNA sensing, and preventing type I IFN signaling could help patients avoid heart failure after a heart attack.
Doubts Revealed
UC San Diego -: UC San Diego stands for the University of California, San Diego. It is a big university in the United States where many smart people study and do research.
Dr. Kevin King -: Dr. Kevin King is a scientist and doctor who leads a team of researchers. He works at UC San Diego and studies the heart.
Heart Failure -: Heart failure is when the heart is not able to pump blood as well as it should. This can make it hard for the body to get enough oxygen and nutrients.
Heart Attacks -: A heart attack happens when blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked. This can damage the heart muscle and cause pain.
Cardiac Inflammation -: Cardiac inflammation is when the heart becomes swollen and irritated. This can happen after a heart attack and can make the heart weaker.
Type I Interferon (IFN) Response -: Type I Interferon (IFN) response is a reaction by the body’s immune system. It helps fight off infections but can also cause inflammation.
Borderzone of the Heart -: The borderzone of the heart is the area around the part that was damaged by a heart attack. It is not the damaged part itself but the area next to it.
Cardiomyocytes -: Cardiomyocytes are the muscle cells in the heart. They help the heart to pump blood by contracting and relaxing.
Therapeutic Targets -: Therapeutic targets are specific parts of the body or processes that doctors aim to treat with medicine. In this case, they are looking for ways to stop heart failure.
Mechanical Stress -: Mechanical stress in the heart means the heart muscle is working too hard or is under too much pressure. This can make the heart weaker over time.
DNA Sensing -: DNA sensing is when the body detects pieces of DNA that are out of place, which can signal that something is wrong. This can trigger an immune response.
IFN Signaling -: IFN signaling is the process by which interferons (proteins) send messages to other cells to start an immune response. This can help fight infections but also cause inflammation.
