Monitoring Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Diabetic Heart

Abstract

Topic Area: Mitochondrial Disease. Area of Encouragement: Identification and testing of non-invasive techniques and biomarkers to monitor mitochondrial function, aid in diagnosis, and/or evaluate therapeutic efficacy. Abnormal function of mitochondria, organelles in the cell that are responsible for energy production, is present in many chronic diseases, including diabetes. Diabetes is an increasingly important public health issue. One of the major complications of diabetes is abnormal heart function. Mitochondrial abnormalities contribute to the development of abnormal heart function and might be a target for treatment. However, there is no non-invasive tool to track mitochondrial function in vivo, and assessment of mitochondrial function in the heart requires invasive tissue sampling. The goal of this project is to develop novel non-invasive techniques that enable investigators, and ultimately physicians, to track cardiac mitochondrial function in diabetes in living subjects. Therefore, two complementary approaches (imaging and blood biomarker) will be developed and tested in a preclinical model of diabetes. These techniques are based on detecting a mitochondrial protein, which is involved in the normal functioning of the mitochondria. If validated, these techniques will not only help advance basic research on mitochondria, but also ultimately, help diagnose and treat patients with mitochondrial disease.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Oct 29, 2018
Source ID
W81XWH1810105

Entities

People

  • Mehran M Sadeghi

Organizations

  • United States Army
  • Yale University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

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