Investigating and Characterizing Protein Synthesis in Cardiovascular Disease

Student Name: Kunal Shah

UCD Department: Neurology, Physiology and Behavior

UCD Mentor: Aldrin Gomes

Protein synthesis is an important facet of any biological process. In the cardiac muscle, it is especially important in determining the state and condition of the muscle. One cardiovascular condition that is closely related to protein synthesis is cardiac hypertrohy. Cardiac hypertrophy is a thickening of the heart muscle, which results in a decrease in size of the chamber of the heart, including the left and right ventricles. This hypertrophy is a common known response to the increased workload of the heart that is associated with hypertension. The larger heart and cardiac cell mass means that more protein is necessary to make up the additional mass of the heart. This project investigated which proteins are specifically synthesized for the sake of contributing to cardiac hypertrophy and exactly how the rate of protein synthesis increases when cells are induced with hypertrophy by the cancer drug Doxorubicin. Using Click-iT AHA Protein Labeling Kits, and SDS-PAGE Gels, we were able to determine that the rate of protein synthesis increases by an average of 30.26%. In addition, we determined that Meclofenamate sodium, a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflamatory Drug (NSAID), decreased the rate of protein synthesis in cardiac cells while simultaneously decreasing protein degradation, an important step in determining how exactly NSAIDs affect cardiotoxicity and induce cardiovascular disease.