Congratulations to James Isaiah (Ike) Emerson, a graduate student and research assistant in The Conlon Lab, in collaboration with William Marzluff, Ph.D., Kenan Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Biology-Joint Appointment (Ph.D.–Duke University), and Ileana M. Cristea, Ph.D., Henry L. Hillman Professor of Molecular Biology; Director of Graduate Studies, Molecular Biology Department, Princeton University, for publishing article, titled “X-Chromosome–Linked miRNAs Regulate Sex Differences in Cardiac Physiology”, in Circulation Research.
These studies identified a new panel of miRNAs on the X chromosome in mice and humans that control male-female differences in ventricular repolarization. The study that was conducted in collaboration with Dr. William Marzluff (UNC) and Dr. Ileana Cristea (Princeton University) identifies an X-chromosome-linked cluster of miRNAs that exhibit female-enriched expression in mouse hearts and regulates sex-specific differences in cardiac physiology. Specifically, miR-871 suppresses the expression of Sarcalumenin (SRL), a calcium-handling protein, leading to sex-dependent variations in ventricular repolarization, and its human ortholog miR-888 similarly regulates SRL, highlighting its potential role in human cardiac disease and sex-specific electrophysiological differences. The work was featured in Volume 136, Number 3, of Circulation Research and can be read online now.