WVXU: UC researchers identify protein involved in fight or flight

It has been deemed an essential trait that has allowed humans and higher primates to survive. Researchers in a UC College of Medicine laboratory have identified one of the regulatory proteins that plays a role in how the fight-or-flight response occurs. Sakthivel Sadayappan, PhD, a professor in the UC Division of Cardiovascular Health and Disease, discussed the research finding with WVXU’s Tana Weingartner. There are fast and slow types of skeletal myosin binding protein-C, a thick filament regulatory protein in striated muscle. The fast skeletal myosin binding protein-C modulates how quickly and forcefully muscles contract. Fast muscle is important for getting away from threats.  The study, on which Sadayappan was a co-author, is available in the scholarly journal PNAS.  The study’s lead author is Taejeong Song, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Sadayappan Lab.

Listen to the WVXU segment online.

Learn more about fast skeletal myosin binding protein-C research at UC.

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