Helen Blau Speaks at CVI Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science Seminar Series
She delivered an hour long seminar Regenerating and Rejuvenating Aged Muscles by Targeting a “Gerozyme” to a packed room on September 13, 2022. The talk focused on the Blau’s lab discovery that elevated 15-PGDH, the Prostaglandin E2 degrading enzyme, is a hallmark of aged muscle and other tissues. 15-PGDH overexpression triggers atrophy in young muscles, whereas its inhibition rejuvenates and strengthens aged muscles. The potency of PGE2, which accumulates following 15-PGDH inhibition, arises from its dual targets: muscle stem cells and mature myofibers. These findings hold promise for translation to the clinic to augment strength in patients with muscular dystrophies and sarcopenia, the debilitating loss of muscle function with aging for which there currently is no treatment. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science hybrid seminars are every Tuesday from 12 PM – 1 PM PT.