Effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes on heart repair and regeneration
Abstracts
Initial Award Abstract |
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Myocardial infarction (also called heart attack) is the major cause of heart failure, which continues to be the
leading cause of death in the United States and developed countries around the world. The use of tobacco
and other tobacco products increases the risk of heart diseases. The fundamental problem leading to heart
failure is that human hearts cannot regenerate after heart injury (e.g. heart attack). It is not clear how tobacco
smoke affects the capacity of the heart to repair after cardiac injury and increases the chances of developing
heart failure. Furthermore, the use of e-cigarettes has gained popularity among young people. E-cigarettes
create vapor containing toxic chemicals. The lymphatic vasculature is a specialized network of vessels that
drains fluid from tissues and enables immune-cell clearance throughout the body. It has been shown that
cardiac lymphatics are essential for heart repair and regeneration after heart injury in a mouse model of
myocardial infarction. We propose to test a hypothesis that tobacco can not only increase the chances of a
first-time heart attack but can also affect heart repair and regeneration after myocardial infarction by
regulating the cardiac lymphatic system. We propose to 1) determine the effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes
in zebrafish heart regeneration and cardiac lymphatic vessel functions; 2) determine the effects of tobacco
smoke on mouse heart repair, fibrotic scar formation and development of heart failure. Our studies will reveal
potential mechanisms on how tobacco and e-cigarettes affect heart repair after myocardial infarction and
influence the likelihood in developing heart failure. |
