Name Tetsuo Sasano, MD, PhDAffiliation Medical Top Track (MTT) program
Title Junior MTT Fellow
Subjects of Research
1. Application of novel therapy to treat arrhythmia
2. Investigation of the initiation and maintenance mechanism of atrial fibrillation.
Research Summary
1. Ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation is a critical issue in patients having structural heart disease. The treatment of these ventricular tachyarrhythmias is still limited. The goal of our research is to apply the novel therapeutic approach using gene transfer or cell implantation into this ventricular tachyarrhythmia. This study may lead to propose the new target molecule of drug therapy, and also the possibility of the direct clinical application of gene and cell therapy.
2. Recent investigations revealed atrial fibrillation initiated at pulmonary veins. The goal of this study is to identify the key molecules that make arrhythmogenic property in pulmonary veins. This study may conduct the clue for novel therapeutic target of atrial fibrillation, as well as the risk stratification of atrial fibrillation by SNP analysis of these molecules.
Publications
1. Sasano T, McDonald AD, Kikuchi K, Donahue JK: Molecular Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia after Myocardial Infarction. Nat Med. 12: 1256-8 (2006)
2. Sasano T, Kikuchi K, McDonald AD, Lai S, Donahue JK: Targeted high-efficiency, homogeneous myocardial gene transfer. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 42: 954-61 (2007)
3. Sasano T, Kikuchi K, McDonald AD, Sasano T, Donahue JK: Targeted modification of atrial electrophysiology by homogeneous transmural atrial gene transfer. Circulation. 111: 264-70 (2005)
Experimental techniques
1. Gene transfer into myocyte using virus vector.
2. Electrophysiological evaluation by patch clamp and optical mapping.
3. Preparation of cardiac progenitor cell with gene modification.