New targets for gene therapy may have been identified by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
They studied the specific cell changes that lead to heart failure diseases like dilated cardiomyopathy.
“Our findings hold enormous potential for rethinking how we treat heart failure and point to the importance of understanding its root causes and the mutations that lead to changes that may alter how the heart functions,” said co-senior author Christine Seidman, the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine and professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Center at Brigham and Women’s. “This is fundamental research, but it identifies targets that can be experimentally pursued to propel future therapeutics,” she said. “Our findings also point to the importance of genotyping. Not only does genotyping empower research but it can also lead to better, personalized treatment for patients.”
To learn more about DCM genetics, please visit: https://dcmfoundation.org/dilated-cardiomyopathy-and-genetics/