Researchers have identified a strong connection between a protein, SIRT5, and healthy heart function. SIRT5 has the ability to remove a harmful protein modification known as lysine succinylation, which robs the heart of its ability to burn fatty acids efficiently to generate the energy needed for pumping.

SIRT5 is one of a class of seven proteins called sirtuins that have been shown to influence a range of cellular processes.

The team tested mouse tissue from five locations (heart, liver, kidney, brain, muscle) and found that protein lysine succinylation occurs to the greatest extent in the heart. The testing involved mice that had SIRT5 deleted.

The removal of SIRT5 resulted in reduced activity of ECHA, a protein involved in fatty acid oxidation, and decreased levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which stores and transfers chemical energy within cells.

The effect of SIRT5 removal on heart function was even more pronounced as the mice aged. The researchers performed echocardiography on 8-week-old mice, with some reduced cardiac function observed. The mice were tested again at 39 weeks, and they showed hallmarks of cardiac hypertrophy - increased heart weight and left ventricular mass, along with reductions in both the shortening and ejection fractions of the heart.

"The identification of this new role of SIRT5 in cardiomyopathy assigns an important role of this 'druggable' enzyme in one of the major cardiac diseases," said one of the authors of the publication in the journal PNAS.

http://mediarelations.cornell.edu/2016/04/06/cornell-swiss-study-finds-protein-with-power-to-improve-heart-function/