Jidong Fu
Ohio State University, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
Heart muscle cells beat constantly, and the strain of contraction regularly tears small holes in their outer membrane, called the sarcolemma. If these cells cannot repair the damage, they die.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Physiology
Genetics
- Topics
long noncoding RNA
lncRNA
Masir
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2030
What they work on
- Characterize how Masir, a membrane-associated long noncoding RNA, protects heart muscle cells from ischemic injury by enhancing membrane repair, and assess its safety in mouse models.
- Test whether Masir preserves heart tissue, improves heart function and reduces arrhythmia after ischemic injury in a preclinical pig model, and determine an effective and safe dose.
- Evaluate whether Masir protects human heart cells and tissues, including heart muscle cells grown from induced pluripotent stem cells, against membrane injury such as laser-induced damage.
More about the research
Loss of heart muscle cells after a heart attack leads to heart failure, and heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Membrane damage becomes more common with aging and disease, so boosting membrane repair could protect the heart. Whether RNA molecules can take part directly in membrane repair has been unknown.
Why it matters
Heart attacks permanently destroy heart muscle cells, leading to heart failure and dangerous arrhythmias. If Masir proves safe and effective in mice, pigs and human heart tissue, it could form the basis of an RNA-based treatment. Such a treatment would aim to help heart cells repair their membranes and survive ischemic injury, and could benefit patients with ischemic heart disease.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Joseph Hill
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine how endothelial Fli1 protects the heart under ischemic stress, using tamoxifen-inducible mice that lack Fli1 only in blood vessel lining cells, and manipulate Fli1 activity in models of ischemic heart disease.
Radhika Muzumdar
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Physiology
Determine how effectively humanin, a small peptide encoded in mitochondria, protects the heart in mouse models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and ischemia-induced heart failure in aging, measuring infarct size and cardiac function.
Francesca Briganti
University of California-San Diego, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Test candidate miRNAs in stem-cell-derived heart muscle cells (iPSC-CMs) carrying DCM variants in PLN, RBM20 or TNNT2, to find the mechanisms by which they improve contraction.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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