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Cardiology |
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| 13 Oct 2009 | Viewed: 37 | |
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The source and mechanisms underlying the abnormal heart beats that initiate atrial fibrillation
(Afib), the most common type of abnormal heart beat, have not been well
determined. However, a group of researchers at the University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, has now identified a population of cells
that are like pigment producing cells in the skin (melanocytes) in the
atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of mice and humans and uncovered
evidence in mice that these cells contribute to Afib.
Initial analysis by the group, led by Vickas Patel and
Jonathan Epstein, identified a population of cells in the atrium and
pulmonary veins of mice and humans that expressed the protein DCT,
which is involved in making the skin pigment melanin. Further work
showed that Dct-expressing cells in the mouse heart were distinct from
both heart muscle cells and skin melanocytes, although they could
conduct electrical currents, which are important for coordinated
contraction of the heart. Adult mice lacking Dct were susceptible to
induced and spontaneous Afib and the melanocyte-like cells in their
heart exhibited abnormal conduction of electrical currents in vitro. As
mice lacking both melanocyte-like cells in the heart and Dct failed to
develop either induced or spontaneous Afib, the authors suggest that
dysfunctional melanocyte-like cells in the heart may be a trigger of
Afib in humans.
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| News Source: medical news today |
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