Faulty membrane repair causes complications.

• Position: Cardiology - Dysferlin - Brief article

During vigorous exercise, heart muscle cells take a beating. In fact, some of those cells rupture and, if not for a repair process capable of resealing cell membranes, those cells would die and cause heart damage (cardiomyopathy). Researchers at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, have discovered a specific repair mechanism in heart muscle and identified a protein called dysferlin that is critical for resealing heart muscle cell membranes. The study also shows that loss of dysferlin causes cardiomyopathy. Furthermore, heart damage is exaggerated by vigorous exercise or by inherent muscle weakness caused by a muscular dystrophy defect.

Active tissues, like a beating heart or contracting muscle, need mechanisms to repair the inevitable cell membrane tears caused by physical stress and strain. Researcher Kevin Campbell and his colleagues identified dysferlin as a...