United Press International, April 25, 2007 GALVESTON, Texas, (UPI) - A U.S. animal study has determined a precise level of a special protein is critical to the proper formation of muscles. In a discovery that might advance understanding of conditions ranging from heart failure to cancer, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found the optimal formation of the proteins that power heart and skeletal muscle seems to rely on a specific concentration of a "chaperone" protein known as UNC-45. That discovery might have important implications for new treatments for heart failure and muscle wasting resulting from burns, brain trauma, diabetes, cancer and the effects of aging, Henry Epstein, chairman of University of Texas Medical Branch's Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology and the senior author of the paper, said.