Basic and Clinical Aspects in Cardiomyopathies: New Viewpoints and Future Direction

Since mutations in the beta myosin heavy chain gene were first reported to be disease causing in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 1990, a number of cardiomyopathies-causing genes related to sarcomere, Z disc, cellular structure, and calcium handling have been identified. Recent development new generation sequencing technologies would enable us further discover new disease-causing genes, which might not be even imagined in the era of conventional sanger sequencing. Meanwhile, molecular pathways from the mutation to cardiomyopathy phenotypes have not been fully dissected. New generation sequencing combined with functional studies could help put the pieces of the cardiomyopathies puzzle. Recently, Not only genotyping but also phenotyping technologies have been developed. Specifically, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has revealed previously unrecognized phenotypes of cardiomyopathes (e.g. myocardial crypt). In this symposium, we intend to connect experts from a broad range of basic and clinical researches in cardiomyopathies and to discuss future direction of researches.