Integrin-Targeted, Short Interfering RNA Nanocomplexes for Neuroblastoma Tumor-Specific Delivery Achieve Silencing with Improved Survival.

The authors aim to develop siRNA therapeutics for cancer that can be administered systemically to target tumors and retard their growth. The efficacy of systemic delivery of siRNA to tumors with nanoparticles based on lipids or polymers is often compromised by their rapid clearance from the circulation by the liver. Here, multifunctional cationic and anionic siRNA nanoparticle formulations are described, termed receptor-targeted nanocomplexes (RTNs), that comprise peptides for siRNA packaging into nanoparticles and receptor-mediated cell uptake, together with lipids that confer nanoparticles with stealth properties to enhance stability in the circulation, and fusogenic properties to enhance endosomal release within the cell.

Computational prediction of protein subdomain stability in MYBPC3 enables clinical risk stratification in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and enhances variant interpretation.

Purpose: Variants in MYBPC3 causing loss of function are the most common cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, a substantial number of patients carry missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in MYBPC3. We hypothesize that a structural-based algorithm, STRUM, which estimates the effect of missense variants on protein folding, will identify a subgroup of HCM patients with a MYBPC3 VUS associated with increased clinical risk.

Spatial and Functional Distribution of Pathogenic Variants and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Pathogenic variants in , encoding cardiac MyBP-C (myosin binding protein C), are the most common cause of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A large number of unique variants and relatively small genotyped hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cohorts have precluded detailed genotype-phenotype correlations.

Methods: Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and variants were identified from the Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry.

Coronary CT Angiography and 5-Year Risk of Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Although coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) improves diagnostic certainty in the assessment of patients with stable chest pain, its effect on 5-year clinical outcomes is unknown.

Methods: In an open-label, multicenter, parallel-group trial, we randomly assigned 4146 patients with stable chest pain who had been referred to a cardiology clinic for evaluation to standard care plus CTA (2073 patients) or to standard care alone (2073 patients). Investigations, treatments, and clinical outcomes were assessed over 3 to 7 years of follow-up.

High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I and the Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Suspected Angina Pectoris.

Background: We determined whether high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I can improve the estimation of the pretest probability for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with suspected stable angina.

Methods And Results: In a prespecified substudy of the SCOT-HEART trial (Scottish Computed Tomography of the Heart), plasma cardiac troponin was measured using a high-sensitivity single-molecule counting assay in 943 adults with suspected stable angina who had undergone coronary computed tomographic angiography. Rates of obstructive CAD were compared with the pretest probability determined by the CAD Consortium risk model with and without cardiac troponin concentrations.

Magnesium Counteracts Vascular Calcification: Passive Interference or Active Modulation?

Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies report a close relationship between serum magnesium concentration and cardiovascular disease risk in the general population. In end-stage renal disease, an association was found between serum magnesium and survival. Hypomagnesemia was identified as a strong predictor for cardiovascular disease in these patients.