Quantum effects in ambient conditions.

Lnc-ing fibroblasts to cardiac fibrosis Therapies for cardiac injury typically focus on cardiomyocytes, the contractile cells of the heart. But cardiac fibroblasts can play a key role in the pathogenesis of heart failure by depositing extracellular matrix to compensate for reduced cardiac function. Micheletti et al. identified a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), Wisper, that is enriched in cardiac fibroblasts and up-regulated in infarcted mouse heart tissue. They treated mice with antisense oligonucleotides to Wisper after infarction, when fibrosis was already initiated; treatment reduced the expression of matrix proteins, decreased tissue remodeling, and improved cardiac function and survival. WISPER expression was increased in tissue samples from patients with aortic stenosis and correlated with collagen volume fraction and severity of fibrosis. Fibroblast-specific lncRNAs may thus be useful targets for fibrosis therapies. —CC