B01: Impact of the translation elongation factor 1a on cardiac growth and function

Heart growth after birth or during disease involves increased protein synthesis and reduced protein degradation. The cardiac function of one putative regulator of both processes, the eukaryotic elongation factor 1 (EEF1A) was so far not studied, but recently a gene-mutation in this protein was associated with human cardiomyopathy. We therefore hypothesize that EEF1A, expressed in two different isoforms (EEF1A1, EEF1A2) in cardiomyocytes, is a nodal regulator of cardiac homeostasis, growth and function. We created cardiomyocyte specific knock-out mice of both Eeef1a isoforms and will investigate how EEF1A functions in cardiomyocytes and if it has a therapeutic relevance.