It Takes More Than Protein-Coding DNA To Make A Heart

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Genetics Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry;Cardiovascular / Cardiology;Stem Cell Research Article Date: 24 Jan 2013 - 13:00 PST

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In a study reported online in the journal Cell on 24 January, biologists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) describe how they identified a critical role for a lncRNA they dubbed "Braveheart".

But while thousands of these genetic snippets have been found, very little is known about their specific roles.

The MIT team suggests the snippet they have identified, Braveheart, controls the transformation of stem cells into heart cells when embryonic stem cells are differentiating.

If that turns out to be the case, then studying lncRNAs could lead to a new way of developing regenerative drugs to treat hearts damaged through aging or cardiovascular disease.

Co-lead author Carla Klattenhoff, a postdoc in MIT's Department of Biology, says in a statement:

"It opens a new door to what we could do, and how we could use lncRNAs to induce specific cell types, that's been completely unexplored."

In their study they show how mouse embryonic stem cells that don't have enough Braveheart lncRNA fail to develop any of the three major types of cell of the cardiovascular system: cardiomyocytes (which make cardiac muscle), smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells.

They also found that without Braveheart, MesP1, the master gene that regulates heart-cell differentiation in vertebrate animals, doesn't work. When it works, MesP1 kicks off a cascade of hundreds of genes that are essential for heart development.

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It Takes More Than Protein-Coding DNA To Make A Heart