In the SciLifeLab/AstraZeneca collaboration on heart failure, a study has been published in Scientific Reports (https://rdcu.be/boOId) on mRNA expression in myocardial biopsies, obtained from patients undergoing elective coronary bypass surgery, as part of the large study named PREFERS (Preserved and Reduced Ejection Fraction Epidemiological Regional Study). The study was led by SciLifeLab researcher Bengt Persson (Uppsala University).

It was found that gene expression data clustered into two groups, corresponding to HFpEF (Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction) and Normal physiology, and 743 differentially expressed genes were identified. The associated top biological functions were cardiac muscle contraction, oxidative phosphorylation, cellular remodelling and matrix organisation. The results also indicate that upstream regulatory events, including inhibition of transcription factors STAT4, SRF and TP53, and activation of transcription repressors HEY2 and KDM5A, could provide explanatory mechanisms to observed gene expression differences and ultimately cardiac dysfunction in the HFpEF proxy group.