Activity Of Calcium-handling Gene Appears To Prevent Cardiac Arrhythmias

Activation of a gene already shown to correct heart failure by improving calcium metabolism in the heart muscle may also help prevent arrhythmias, sometimes-dangerous disturbances in heart rhythm, according to a study from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC). The article, being released today in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes how overexpression of the protein SERCA2a in the hearts of rats reduce