University of Arkansas

Bioventures, LLC

Other

The United States Government As Represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs

Jeanne Wei

Xiaomin Zhang

Robert R Wolfe

Gohar Azhar

The present invention encompasses combinations comprising a plurality of amino acids, formulations thereof for use in humans and animals, as well as methods for increasing muscle protein synthesis, muscle strength, and/or muscle function in a subject with chronic heart failure, cardiac cachexia or a combination thereof.

Methods for improving muscle and heart function

The present invention encompasses methods of administering SRF&#x394;3. Administering SRF&#x394;3 may reduce proliferation of cancer cells, and modulate activity of promoters regulated by serum response factor.

Methods of using a serum response factor isoform

The invention provides isolated p49/STRAP protein, and isolated nucleic acids encoding a p49/STRAP protein. The inventors have discovered a new protein, named p49/STRAP that is expressed in cardiac tissue and other tissues in mammals. The p49/STRAP protein binds to serum response factor (SRF) and regulates transcription of SRF-responsive genes in the heart. p49/STRAP is also discovered to inhibit tumor cell proliferation, and thus the invention provides a method of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation by contacting the cells with p49/STRAP.

p49/STRAP is a novel protein involved in gene regulation and cell proliferation

The invention provides a method of identifying candidate agents to test for treating heart failure involving diastolic impairment, the method comprising: testing an agent to determine whether it (a) binds to serum response factor (SRF), (b) reduces SRF binding to a serum response element (SRE), or (c) reduces SRF protein levels in a cell; wherein if the agent does one or more of (a), (b), and (c), it is identified as a candidate agent.

Growing community of inventors

Little Rock, AR, United States of America

Jeanne Wei