Mending a Broken Heart: New SERCA2 Gene Therapy Fights Heart Disease

While many of the proteins on our antibody database are studied in relation to their expression in diseases; others become therapies in their own right. This is the case with SERCA2 (Sarcoplasmic reticulum Calcium-ATPase 2 pump), which recently hit the headlines as a treatment for severe heart failure.

SERCA2 is an enzyme that acts as a magnesium-dependent pump in the heart, adult epidermis and smooth muscle tissue. It catalyses ATP hydrolysis and is critical in controlling the transport of Ca2+ between the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the cytoplasm. There are two distinct isoforms: SERCA2a is expressed in cardiac and slow twitch skeletal muscle, where it regulates the contraction/relaxation cycle. SERCA2b is expressed in adult epidermal and smooth muscle tissue, where it performs a similar role.

In June 2010, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine successfully developed SERCA2a into a new gene therapy, which in Phase ll clinical trials was proven to be safe and effective at reversing advanced cardiac failure. Released under the name MYDICAR, the drug was injected through a small catheter directly into the heart muscle of cardiac patients, where it was shown to dramatically improve the pumping of the heart and stimulate natural production of SERCA2a.

Immunohistochemistry-Paraffin: SERCA2 ATPase Antibody

Calcium transport is critical to healthy heart function, and earlier antibodystudies had already shown that heart failure could be caused by deficiency and/or changes in SERCA2a expression in cardiac myocytes. In May 2009, Jaski, et al. suggested replacement of SERCA2a by gene transfer could restore Ca2+ homeostasis and reverse many of the symptoms of heart failure. This has now been proven.

We at Novus Biologicals have many excellent SERCA2a products in our antibody catalog, along with antibodies to SERCA1  and SERCA3 as well.

Novus Biologicals offers many SERCA2a reagents for your research needs including:

• SERCA2a Antibodies
• SERCA2a Lysates
• SERCA2a RNAi
• SERCA2a Peptides and Proteins