New gene may protect against heart disease - Study

Scientists have discovered a new gene that may play a protective role in preventing heart disease.

The new gene, MeXis is said to act within key cells inside clogged arteries to help remove excess cholesterol from blood vessels.

MeXis is an example of a “selfish” gene, one that is presumed to have no function because it does not make a protein product. However, recent studies have suggested that these so-called “unhelpful” genes can actually perform important biological functions without making proteins and instead producing a special class of molecules called long non-coding RNAs, or lncRNAs.

The study led by The University of California , Los Angeles, UCLA in mice found that MeXis controls the expression of a protein that pumps cholesterol out of cells in the artery wall.

The study’s lead author, co-director of UCLA Center for Cholesterol Management Dr. Tamer Sallam, stated that the idea that lncRNAs are directly involved in very common ailments such as plaque buildup within arteries offers new ways of thinking about how to treat and diagnose heart disease.

He said there is likely a good reason why genes that make RNAs rather than proteins exist. “A key question for us moving forward is how they may be involved in health and disease.”

A senior author of the study, Dr Peter Tontonoz said, what the study tells us is that lncRNAs are important for the inner workings of cells involved in the development of heart disease.

The researchers also found that boosting MeXis levels made cells more effective at removing excess cholesterol.

The researchers who are interested in finding out if MeXis could be targeted for therapy of cardiovascular disease would further explore how MeXis affects the function of cells in the artery wall and will test various approaches to altering MeXis activity in their next research.