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Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death across the globe. Most of these deaths are caused by a heart attack-myocardial infarction where the blood flow to the heart is acutely blocked causing irreversible damage to the heart muscle.
People may survive a heart attack, but the damage that has occurred to the heart muscle can develop to heart failure – a debilitating condition in which the heart cannot pump blood around the body.
The gene Runx1 increases in damaged heart muscle after a heart attack. Mice with a limited capacity to increase Runx1 gene activation were protected against the adverse changes that lead to heart failure.
The Runx1 gene has been extensively studied in the context of its role in leukaemia and normal blood cell development, however until now its role in the heart was unknown.
Now researchers believe that the increased expression of the Runx1 gene, which happens after a heart attack, contributes to adverse changes in the shape and pumping action of the heart.
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