Reduced PI3K(p110α) induces atrial myopathy, and PI3K-related lipids are dysregulated in athletes with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Elucidating mechanisms underlying atrial myopathy, which predisposes individuals to atrial fibrillation (AF), will be critical for preventing/treating AF. In a serendipitous discovery, we identified atrial enlargement, fibrosis, and thrombi in mice with reduced phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in cardiomyocytes. PI3K(p110α) is elevated in the heart with exercise and is critical for exercise-induced ventricular enlargement and protection, but the role in the atria was unknown.

An optimized plasmalogen modulating dietary supplement provides greater protection in a male than female mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy.

We previously reported that plasmalogens, a class of phospholipids, were decreased in a setting of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Plasmalogen levels can be modulated via a dietary supplement called alkylglycerols (AG) which has demonstrated benefits in some disease settings. However, its therapeutic potential in DCM remained unknown.

Attenuated processing of task-irrelevant speech and other auditory stimuli: fMRI evidence from arithmetic tasks.

When performing cognitive tasks in noisy conditions, the brain needs to maintain task performance while additionally controlling the processing of task-irrelevant and potentially distracting auditory stimuli. Previous research indicates that a fundamental mechanism by which this control is achieved is the attenuation of task-irrelevant processing, especially in conditions with high task demands. However, it remains unclear whether the processing of complex naturalistic sounds can be modulated as easily as that of simpler ones.

Cardiomyocyte-Specific FoxO1 Knockout Mice as Tools to Assess Cardiac Hypertrophy and Key Experimental Considerations Using Cre-loxP.

The generation of tissue-specific mouse models has provided a powerful strategy to understand the role of genes in specific tissues/cells of interest under control/basal conditions and in response to physiological and pathological stimuli. Here we describe the generation of cardiomyocyte-specific FoxO1 knockout mice using Cre-loxP technology to examine the role of FoxO1 for the induction of heart enlargement (cardiac hypertrophy) in settings of health and disease. We highlight breeding strategies for generating tissue-specific mouse models and key experimental considerations during characterization.