Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Beard and her research team investigate how intracellular calcium signaling pathways initiate muscle contraction. We explore and define the mechanisms which lead to control of calcium signalling and the way in which these are disrupted in skeletal myopathies, cardiomyopathy and heart failure.
Muscle contraction occurs due to a cascade of events and relies on calcium release from intracellular stores. The four main cogs in the intracellular calcium signalling pathway are the calcium binding protein calsequestrin (CSQ), the ryanodine receptor (RyR) calcium release channel, and two linking proteins - triadin and junctin - which bind CSQ to the RyR. Control of calcium release in muscle is vital; disturbances in the process can lead to potentially fatal skeletal and cardiac conditions.
Despite their essential role in skeletal muscle and the heart, the functional and structural interactions between the proteins that drive calcium signalling are poorly understood and form the broad aims of our research.
Currently funded projects include:
- Calcium signalling by intracellular calcium stores: implications for muscle performance and athletic ability
- Calcium homeostatis disturbances and human heart failure
- Understanding how chemotherapy agents cause cardiotoxicity
Research interests
- Heart failure
- Cardiomyopathy
- Skeletal muscle ageing and myopathy
Related Links
External positions
Secretary, Gage Conferences on Musclee
2011 → 2020Fingerprint
- 6 Similar Profiles
Network
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Anthracyclines disrupt Ca2+ signalling in cardiomyocytes: a contribution to cardiac toxicity
Beard, N., Dulhunty, A. F., Arnolda, L. & Blackburn, A.
1/01/12 → 31/12/15
Project: Other
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Control of cardiac and skeletal contractility by luminal calcium store load in health and disease
1/01/11 → 28/02/15
Project: Other
Research output
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Running at Increasing Intensities in the Heat Induces Transient Gut Perturbations
Wallett, A., Etxebarria, N., Beard, N., Saunders, P., Welvaert, M., Periard, J., Mckune, A. & Pyne, D., 26 Dec 2020, In: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. p. 1-8 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium mishandling central tenet in heart failure?
Denniss, A. L., Dashwood, A. M., Molenaar, P. & Beard, N. A., 22 Jul 2020, In: Biophysical Reviews. 12, 4, p. 865-878 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Understanding How Phosphorylation and Redox Modifications Regulate Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Type 2 Activity to Produce an Arrhythmogenic Phenotype in Advanced Heart Failure
Dashwood, A., Cheesman, E., Beard, N., Haqqani, H., Wong, Y. W. & Molenaar, P., 14 Aug 2020, In: ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science. 3, 4, p. 563-582 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Calmodulin inhibition of human RyR2 channels requires phosphorylation of RyR2-S2808 or RyR2-S2814
Walweel, K., Gomez-Hurtado, N., Rebbeck, R. T., Oo, Y. W., Beard, N. A., Molenaar, P., dos Remedios, C., van Helden, D. F., Cornea, R. L., Knollmann, B. C. & Laver, D. R., 1 May 2019, In: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 130, p. 96-106 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
5 Citations (Scopus) -
Improved gut integrity in female breast cancer survivors after a 12-week exercise intervention
Etxebarria, N., Toohey, K., Northey, J., Jenista, J., McKune, A., Semple, S., Pyne, D. & Beard, N., Nov 2019, In: Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. 15, 99, p. 109-110 1 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Meeting Abstract