This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.In spite of numerous therapeutic advances, heart disease remains a major, if not the major, cause of mortality in North America. In addition, as many as 5% of all hospital admissions are due heart failure. Controlled cell death is part of the natural process of renewal for many tissues most notably the skin. In contrast, death of cardiac cells is catastrophic since these cells cannot readily divide and renew themselves. Numerous diseases such as chronic heart failure lead to an increase in cell death. Our lab has been using yeast as well as cultured cardiac and skeletal muscle cells as model systems to study genes involved in cardiovascular diseases. During our studies, we have identified a number of human heart genes that delay cell death when placed in yeast. We propose to carry out a detailed analysis of these novel anti-death genes by determining their ability to block cell death in cultured cardiac muscle cells. Characterization of these novel genes will serve to increase our understanding of the process that induces death. Further, such increases in our understanding of the basic processes of controlled cell death, may eventually lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies that will serve to increase the quality of human life.
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