Pitt team finds molecule that regulates heart size by using zebrafish screening model

PITTSBURGH, July 5 – Using zebrafish, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified and described an enzyme inhibitor that allows them to increase the number of cardiac progenitor cells and therefore influence the size of the developing heart. The findings are described in the advance online version of Nature Chemical Biology. The zebrafish model has powerful advantages for studying embryonic development, said senior author Michael Tsang, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "This gives us a better understanding of heart development during the embryonic stage and has implications for adult disease," he noted. "As we try to create treatments that restore normal function to damaged or diseased tissues, it will help us to know... [read full story]                    

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