ILEI from the adrenal gland as first-aid after heart attack?

Heart attack is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the significant improvement in mortality, acute myocardial infarction and as consequence the development of heart failure is a significant clinically unresolved issue. Novel approaches to allivate myocardial injury and infarction and heart failure due to heart attack are urgently needed. The secreted protein FAM3C/ILEI has been identified as protective factor for the heart if supplied in excess, which raises the question if it can be harnessed for therapy. The funded research explores the novel idea that an endogenous ILEI protein pool could serve and be mobilized as emergency reservoir of the ILEI protein to protect the heart against infarction-insult and mitigate the sign of heart failure. Agnes Csiszars team at the Center for Cancer Research in cooperation with researchers around Attila Kiss at the Center of Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery, Medical University of Vienna will utilize genetically modified mice with tissue-specific FAM3C/ILEI deletion combined with a mouse model of myocardial infarction extended with in vitro models and human patient material to test the hypothesis of an endogenous ILEI-mediated heart protection as well as set the path to the development of new therapeutic strategies that boost this natural defense mechanism. Beside the strong translational approach this project will also foster the mechanistic understanding on the function of endogenous ILEI protein pools and their association to myocardial infarction.