Boudreau examines genetic underpinnings of heart failure

Ryan Boudreau, PhD, assistant professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, received a four-year, $1.54M R01 grant from the NIH for his proposed study “The genomic interface of microRNA regulation and heart failure.”

Boudreau explains that a complex intersection between environmental and hereditary factors contributes to the clinical course of heart failure. However, researchers currently have limited knowledge of the genomic regulatory systems impacting circulatory system gene expression. Recent studies demonstrate that microRNAs are critical gene regulators influencing cardiac health.

This project will identify microRNA binding sites and their impact on heart failure onset and progression. Boudreau predicts that his study will reveal microRNA-target interactions are rewired in a failing human heart and genetic variations impact the clinical course of heart disease.

“Overall, this work will broadly advance our knowledge of cardiac microRNA functions, facilitate the translation of genetic studies of heart disease toward novel pathogenic mechanisms and improvements in personalized medicine, and support future efforts to extend the ‘body map’ of microRNA targeting to vascular tissues that are related to other prevalent multifactorial cardio-metabolic diseases with complex genetic underpinnings,” Boudreau said.

 

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