Project 458958

The heart relies on highly regulated electrical signals between heart cells to facilitate coordinated contraction in order to pump blood throughout the body, supplying organs with nutrients and oxygen. Mutations in the mechanisms that facilitate electrical signal propagation causes irregular heart beats leading to poor circulation and heart function. Interestingly, human females are more protected against the detrimental effects of irregular heart beats than males, which is likely attributed to differences in hormones. Chronic irregular beating not only puts significant stress on the heart leading to inefficient energy generation, but also increases the risk of lethal irregular heart beats where the heart can no longer generate enough pressure to pump blood out of the heart. To model the mutation in electrical signal propagation and better understand the underlying biological mechanisms, we have generated a transgenic mouse that mimics the human mutation, with the females also protected from the adverse effects of the mutation. My project aims to investigate the link between energy generation and irregular beating and potentially uncover novels ways we can protect the heart from irregular beating and adverse changes to energy generation.