Background: Flecainide and other class-Ic antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) are widely used in Andersen-Tawil syndrome type 1 (ATS1) patients. However, class-Ic drugs might be proarrhythmic in some cases. We investigated the molecular mechanisms of class-I AADs proarrhythmia and whether they might increase the risk of death in ATS1 patients with structurally normal hearts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtensive genetic studies have elucidated cardiomyocyte differentiation and associated gene networks using single-cell RNA-seq, yet the intricate transcriptional mechanisms governing cardiac conduction system (CCS) development and working cardiomyocyte differentiation remain largely unexplored. Here we show that mice deleted for Dhx36 (encoding the Dhx36 helicase) in the embryonic or neonatal heart develop overt dilated cardiomyopathy, surface ECG alterations related to cardiac impulse propagation, and (in the embryonic heart) a lack of a ventricular conduction system (VCS). Heart snRNA-seq and snATAC-seq reveal the role of Dhx36 in CCS development and in the differentiation of working cardiomyocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Andersen-Tawil syndrome type 1 is a rare heritable disease caused by mutations in the gene coding the strong inwardly rectifying K channel Kir2.1. The extracellular Cys (cysteine)-to-Cys disulfide bond in the channel structure is crucial for proper folding but has not been associated with correct channel function at the membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Res
April 2024
Aims: Short QT syndrome type 3 (SQTS3) is a rare arrhythmogenic disease caused by gain-of-function mutations in KCNJ2, the gene coding the inward rectifier potassium channel Kir2.1. We used a multidisciplinary approach and investigated arrhythmogenic mechanisms in an in-vivo model of de-novo mutation Kir2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Andersen-Tawil Syndrome Type 1 (ATS1) is a rare heritable disease caused by mutations in the strong inwardly rectifying K channel Kir2.1. The extracellular Cys122-to-Cys154 disulfide bond in the Kir2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiotoxicity due to anthracyclines (CDA) affects cancer patients, but we cannot predict who may suffer from this complication. CDA is a complex disease whose polygenic component is mainly unidentified. We propose that levels of intermediate molecular phenotypes in the myocardium associated with histopathological damage could explain CDA susceptibility; so that variants of genes encoding these intermediate molecular phenotypes could identify patients susceptible to this complication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAndersen-Tawil syndrome type 1 (ATS1) is associated with life-threatening arrhythmias of unknown mechanism. In this study, we generated and characterized a mouse model of ATS1 carrying the trafficking-deficient mutant Kir2.1 channel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAndersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS) is a rare inheritable disease associated with loss-of-function mutations in KCNJ2, the gene coding the strong inward rectifier potassium channel Kir2.1, which forms an essential membrane protein controlling cardiac excitability. ATS is usually marked by a triad of periodic paralysis, life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias and dysmorphic features, but its expression is variable and not all patients with a phenotype linked to ATS have a known genetic alteration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with cardiomyopathy of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) are at risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias, but the mechanisms are unknown. We aimed to determine the role of ion channels controlling cardiac excitability in the mechanisms of arrhythmias in DMD patients.
Methods: To test whether dystrophin mutations lead to defective cardiac Na1.
Context: Cryotherapy, a common intervention used by clinicians, poses several benefits in managing acute injuries. However, cooling muscle tissue can interfere with muscular properties and the sensory-motor system.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of cryotherapy with a crushed-ice pack on shoulder proprioception concerning joint position sense, force sense, the threshold for detecting passive movement, and maximal force production.