Insulin signaling in heart failure

Insulin is the hormone released by the pancreas following the consumption of a meal containing carbohydrates and allows for the carbohydrates to enter into and power the necessary functions of the cells of the organs of the body. In diseases like diabetes, the ability of insulin to have its necessary function is out of balance which can cause other health problems including diseases of the heart. Since a lot of people are developing diabetes there is a global demand for improved ways to manage the disease. Basic science allows for new knowledge to be developed on which clinical treatments of the future can be designed. Through studying human heart tissue samples, genetic mouse models of disease, and the development of new tools at the molecular level, the author has built the foundation to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the field of translational endocrinology. The main scholarly contribution of this work is a molecular level understanding of insulin signaling in the end-stage failing human heart. Oftentimes after someone experiences a heart attack, their heart’s ability to function is chronically impaired and progresses to failure which can be fatal. The only way to treat heart failure is through transplanting a functional heart from a donor into a recipient. The removed failing hearts from transplant recipients were studied for differences in insulin signaling at the molecular level and several key findings were made that differed from insulin signaling in non-failing donor hearts.