Dysregulation of autophagy contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiac remodelling and heart failure. Yet, the precise mechanisms and the therapeutic potential of cardiomyocyte autophagy are largely unknown. We will thus investigate whether modulation of autophagic flux via FYCO1/miR-106b, a novel pathway discovered in our preliminary work, will ameliorate adverse remodelling and cardiomyopathy due to genetic, ischemic or metabolic causes. We further plan to elucidate how autophagy is regulated specifically in the heart and how key switches of cardiac autophagy may be exploited as potential targets for therapy.
