Scientists link zinc to key role regulating heartbeat

SCIENTISTS have discovered that zinc plays a key role in regulating heartbeat after research that they hope will pave the way for new treatments.

The researchers behind the study say it represents a “paradigm shift” in understanding how the heart works and could lead to the development of drug targets in the fight against heart failure.

The work, carried out by experts at St Andrews University, found zinc is crucial in regulating calcium movements in heart cells. They said this was vital as excessive release of calcium is a major cause of heart failure and fatal arrhythmias.

Dr Samantha Pitt, a Royal Society of Edinburgh Biomedical Fellow at the University’s School of Medicine, said: “We still have a lot to learn regarding the role of zinc in the heart but our latest work suggests that tight regulation of this metal is crucial in maintaining normal cardiac function.

“Our discovery provides a mechanistic explanation of how zinc plays a key role in regulating heart muscle contractility and how imbalances in zinc may contribute to diseases such as heart failure and fatal arrhythmias.”

In healthy individuals, calcium is released from intracellular stores through specialised gates called type-2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2) and this causes the heart to beat strongly. By monitoring the RyR2 molecules, they found that zinc plays a key role in controlling the release of calcium.

Dr Richard Rainbow, who also worked on the research, added: “This exciting opportunity not only gives us new insights into the mechanisms of disease but also gives the potential to identify new drug targets.”