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08/29: BC Cancer Agency scientists get to the heart of disease research
An important cancer discovery made at the BC Cancer Agency has led to new understanding about the role of a protein in heart function and failure, the focus of two independent papers in the September 1 issue of Genes & Development.
The new research, building upon the 1996 discovery of ILK – Integrin-Linked Kinase - protein in the laboratory of Dr. Shoukat Dedhar, BC Cancer Agency senior scientist, reveals a new and critical role for ILK as a genetic factor related to heart disease and heart failure.
In the Genes & Development papers, researchers from McGill University and the University of Heidelberg demonstrate that the ILK protein is integral to the heart’s ability to adapt its force of contraction to meet the body’s changing needs for oxygenated blood. BC Cancer Agency researchers collaborated on this work in providing the mouse model with the ability to eliminate the ILK gene from heart muscle cells, and thus reveal its role in heart function.
Congestive heart failure affects 2-3 million people in the United States annually and a proportional number in Canada. A large portion of congestive heart failure is caused by a condition known as cardiomyopathy. Such cardiomyopathy is a mostly genetic disease of the heart muscle that causes the heart to become enlarged and to pump less efficiently.
In cancer cells, ILK plays an important role in helping tumour cells survive, grow, and promote the growth of new blood vessels, and by removing ILK from the tumour cells, it is possible to inhibit their growth. In cardiac function ILK responds to mechanical stretch generated in the heart muscle cells and sends signals within the cells to create a signalling response for continued survival and contraction . In the Genes & Development paper, the researchers show that loss of ILK in heart cells results in cardiomyopathy and heart failure.
“Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency are doing fundamental basic science research that can have implications for other diseases in addition to cancer.” This will be a good model not only for developing new strategies and therapeutics for heart disease, but will also alert us on the possible impact of new cancer therapeutics on other tissue functions,” explains Dr Dedhar.
This initial discovery of ILK and its emerging role in heart disease will have an important catalytic effect on ongoing cardiac research in Vancouver. Currently, Dr. Dedhar, in collaboration with Dr. Bruce McManus at St. Paul’s Hospital, is building on this research through studies of the expression and activity of ILK in various forms of heart muscle failure. They have also collaborated on work published this year in Circulation Research that shows a pivotal role for ILK in viral heart disease.
This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The BC Cancer Agency, a part of the Provincial Health Services Authority, is committed to reducing the incidence of cancer, reducing the mortality from cancer, and improving the quality of life of those living with cancer. It provides a comprehensive cancer control program for the people of British Columbia by working with community partners to deliver a range of oncology services, including prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, research, education, supportive care, rehabilitation and palliative care. The BC Cancer Foundation supports research and enhancements to patient care at the BC Cancer Agency.
For more information, please contact:
Nicole Adams
Director, Communications
BC Cancer Agency
604.675.8105
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