CK2α Deficiency Drives Myocardial Fibrosis via Desmin‐Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Canjie Ma, Jiali Jia, Juncong Lan, Jing Wang, Dan Rao, Lanlan Rao, Weibin Zhang, Dongpeng Wu, Jie Zhang, Gang Wang, Baohua Liu, Ying Ao, Zimei Wang · 2026
Read CK2α Deficiency Drives Myocardial Fibrosis via Desmin‐Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction by Canjie Ma, Jiali Jia, Juncong Lan, Jing Wang, Dan Rao, Lanlan Rao, Weibin Zhang, Dongpeng Wu, Jie Zhang, Gang Wang, Baohua Liu, Ying Ao, Zimei Wang (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13336054.txt.
Description
Canjie Ma and a large team traced in 2026 how scarring of the heart muscle can start from a single missing signal inside heart cells. They found a kinase enzyme is dialed down early in fibrotic hearts. Removing it only from heart muscle cells collapsed their energy systems, stirred oxidative stress and inflammation, and woke up neighboring scar-forming cells through signals like IL-6.
The enzyme normally tags a structural fiber protein, recruiting a guardian protein that prevents the fiber from clumping. Without the tag, the fiber aggregates and energy failure follows. Restoring the enzyme in heart cells with a viral delivery preserved energy output and reduced scarring. The authors name this pathway a metabolic-structural checkpoint and a candidate drug target.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Canjie Ma, Jiali Jia, Juncong Lan, Jing Wang, Dan Rao, Lanlan Rao, Weibin Zhang, Dongpeng Wu, Jie Zhang, Gang Wang, Baohua Liu, Ying Ao, Zimei Wang |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 83 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |