Student research project
Supervisor(s): Dr Bianca Bernardo and Associate Professor Julie McMullen
Project summary
Heart failure is one of the leading clinical problems in Australia, and its significance is increasing as the population ages. Existing therapies typically slow, rather than prevent or reverse heart failure progression and often have undesirable side effects. Thus, innovative and efficacious therapies that can prevent heart failure are urgently needed. Scarring (also called fibrosis) of the heart is a key clinical correlate of declining heart function. Recently, tilorone, an FDA approved drug which is primarily prescribed for viral infections and diarrhoea was shown to inhibit scarring in a mouse model of lung disease. We have since generated exciting Preliminary Data that demonstrate that tilorone can regulate the expression of a key anti-scarring pathway in heart cells called the bone morphogenetic protein pathway, and that administration of tilorone in a mouse model of heart failure can attenuate cardiac fibrosis.
Hypothesis: Tilorone may therefore act as a potential novel therapeutic to inhibit scarring and preserve heart function in a setting of heart failure.
Aim: To determine the effect of tilorone on fibrosis and cardiac function in a mouse model of pathological cardiomyopathy with established adverse cardiac remodelling, fibrosis and dysfunction.
Related methods, skills or technologies
The project is suitable for an Honours or PhD student and will involve applying various molecular biology skills and techniques, including:
- data analysis
- preclinical procedures (echocardiography, dissection, i.p. injections)
- qPCR
- Western blot.