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Dr. Dao-Fu Dai receives a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association

Dr. Dao-Fu Dai received a three-year SDG grant from the American Heart Association entitled "The Role of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) in Cardiomyocytes".

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common genetic disorder and results from mutations in the CFTR protein. The most common mutation is ΔF508, which accounts for ~66% of cases worldwide. CF causes lung disease and repeated infection. Although CFTR is present in the heart, its function is incompletely understood. Heart disease in CF is thought to be secondary to severe lung disease. However, recent studies showed that CF patients may have heart problems even when lung function is preserved. A recent study shows that ΔF508 carriers have higher risks of developing other diseases. This suggests a critical role for CFTR in multiple organs. Our data showed that CF increased the risk of cardiac rhythm disorders. This application proposes to investigate the mechanisms as to how CF affects heart rhythm disorders and how CF impairs the powerhouse of cells. This will be done in both mouse and pig models of CF and human induced pluripotent-stem cells derived cardiomyocytes from CF patients with the ΔF508 mutation.

Date: 
Monday, August 23, 2021