Duffy Research
Gap junctional communication is vital for normal electrical propagation in the heart. The Duffy laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms of abnormal heart rhythms
(arrhythmias) particularly on how altered gap junctions and gap junctional communication may underlie the formation of cardiac arrhythmias. We use both standard and novel biochemical techniques such as Western blot and Antibody arrays to determine how gap junction proteins and their protein partners are altered under conditions of ischemia. These changes are likely to be pathogenic during myocardial infarction and understanding the molecular signals responsible for these changes gives potential targets for rational drug design for myocardial infarction. We then translate these biochemical findings into the physiological outcomes by doing whole heart in situ mapping of the canine heart following myocardial infarction. To examine how loss of gap junctions impacts arrhythmia formation in the in situ heart we do electrophysiological studies in the presence of agonists and antagonists to gap junctional coupling.
