Gene therapy reduces heart failure in mice (May 18, 2022)
Using gene therapy to deliver a piece an important heart protein protects mouse hearts from stress induced heart failure even when the gene therapy is delivered after the onset of heart failure. The new finding, published in etc journal Circulation Research, suggests that gene therapy targeting this mechanism, may have potential as a new therapy for treating heart failure.

Study homes in on possible cause of sudden cardiac deaths (March 3, 2020)
By studying the sick hearts removed from four patients undergoing heart transplants, researchers have identified a protein and a signaling pathway that may contribute to sudden death in an inherited form of heart disease.

Song receives AHA Innovation Grant (May 21, 2019)
Dr. Long-Sheng Song has received a two-year, $200,000 Innovative Project Award (IPA) from the American Heart Association.

Song Science publication celebrated (December 28, 2018)
Fellow authors and colleagues gathered together last month to celebrate Long-Sheng Song, MD, Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, and his study’s publication in Science’s online platform.

Study finds that stress changes a structural protein into a gene regulator that protects against heart failure (November 9, 2019; uiowafoedrc.com)
Dr. Long-Sheng Song has been focusing on a protein called junctophilin-2 (JP2). Previous work in Dr. Song’s lab revealed that JP2 is a structural protein that is essential for heartbeat and that loss or disruption of JP2 is associated with heart failure.

Failing heart cells trigger self-protection mechanism (November 8, 2018; eurekalert.org)
An unexpected finding that links a structural heart protein to gene regulation following heart stress suggests potential new avenues for developing heart failure therapies.

Song Receives AHA Grant to Study Contradictory Protein (June 27, 2018)
Long-Sheng Song, Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, has received a three-year, $300,000 Transformational Project Award (TPA) from the American Heart Association. This TPA will fund Dr. Song’s research into potential new targeted therapies in the prevention of heart failure development and progression.

Misplaced protein causes heart failure (March 6, 2014; sciencedaily.com)
Decreasing the density of microtubules inside heart muscle cells prevents the abnormal localization of a critical protein called junctophilin 2 (JP2), and protects mice from heart failure, new research has found.

Structural defects precede functional decline in heart muscle (Auust 30, 2010; eurekalert.org)
The disruption of a structural component in heart muscle cells, which is associated with heart failure, appears to occur even before heart function starts to decline, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.