posted February 25, 2014
A recent story in the University of Minnesota’s Discover series highlights the work of Professor Joseph Metzger, head of the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology and MSI Principal Investigator. Professor Metzger and his colleagues are developing “patches” - formally known as poloxamers - that can be used to repair leaky cells in the heart. In these cells, the enclosing cell membranes have tears that allow proteins within the cell to escape, thus damaging the ability of the heart to function correctly. This is a condition found in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or who have had heart attacks or other heart problems.
Professor Metzger uses MSI resources for research into heart cells. Most recently, this research has included creating molecular dynamics simulations of troponin molecules.