Invention:
This invention describes a novel therapeutic approach to treat cardiac muscle arrhythmias and skeletal muscle tremors.
Background:
Cardiac arrhythmias, such as those that cause atrial fibrillation or sudden cardiac death (SCD), are typically viewed as electrical/conduction abnormalities that drive uncoordinated heartbeats and their downstream health effects. Accordingly, most antiarrhythmic drugs are ion channel blockers that alter electrical conduction or cell calcium signaling pathways. These drugs alter electrical conduction or cell calcium signaling pathways by affecting so called "excitation-contraction" coupling where electrical/chemical signaling occurs upstream of, and thus prior to, muscle contraction.
The inventors have proposed a novel therapeutic that works downstream of these conventional drug targets: treating cardiac and skeletal contractile units, known as sarcomeres, with myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C). Here, they assert that this approach can modulate intrinsic wavelike oscillations of the sarcomeres, and would therefore be a novel antiarrhythmic and antitremor therapeutic approach. This is based on discoveries that have shifted the notion that cardiac arrhythmias and skeletal muscle tremors nearly always result from dysfunction of the upstream electrical/chemical signaling.
Applications:
- Novel therapeutic for cardiac arrhythmias and skeletal muscle tremors
Advantages:
- May be more effective for those who have not responded to current/conventional treatments
- May be more effective in broadly treating these cardiac dysfunctions
