Integrative Cardio-Pulmonary Workshop: From Oxygen Sensing to Heart Failure

慢性和间歇性缺氧对各种肺部疾病和睡眠障碍的反应已被证明

Chronic and intermittent hypoxia in response to various lung diseases and sleep disorders has been shown to be associated with heart failure. For example, obstructive sleep apnea is a risk for hypertension and heart failure. Chronic hypoxic lung diseases such as COPD result in pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. Mechanisms of how changes in oxygen tension might influence the pathogenesis of heart failure, however, have not been defined. Lack of such knowledge interferes with the development of new strategies to prevent and/or treat heart failure associated with hypoxic disorders. Our long-range goal is to promote integrative and interdisciplinary research to establish mechanisms of hypoxia-induced heart failure. The objective of this application is to bring together leading investigators from various disciplines to interact and discuss about the relationships between oxygen sensing mechanisms and the development of heart failure. The rationale for the proposed Workshop is that, once knowledge of the relationship between oxygen sensing and heart failure mechanisms has been obtained, it will lead to new strategies that can be used to prevent and/or treat heart failure associated with lung diseases and sleep apnea. The objective of the application will be accomplished by addressing four specific questions: 1) What are the mechanisms of oxygen sensing? 2) What are the mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy and failure? 3) How does oxygen sensing/hypoxia affect the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and failure? 4) What are the roles of redox signaling in the mechanism of interactions between oxygen sensing/hypoxia and cardiac hypertrophy/failure? during the two and a half-day Workshop which will be held from Oct. 11th to 13th, 2006 in Washington DC. The proposed Workshop is innovative because it will bring together investigators from various disciplines including those involved in respiratory, neurological and cardiovascular research and will provide opportunities for young investigators to participate in discussions. It is our expectation that the proposed Workshop will stimulate integrative and interdisciplinary research on yet under-studied areas concerning the effects of hypoxia on cardiac hypertrophy/failure including the mechanism of right heart failure. These results will be significant because they are expected to provide new agents against sleep apnea- and pulmonary hypertension-associated heart failure. In addition, the results will fundamentally advance the fields of pulmonary and cardiac biology.