Heart muscle cells, otherwise known as cardiomyocytes, can help regenerate a damaged heart, US scientists reported in the journal Nature.
The damaged heart muscles of the zebrafish biologists’ favorite fish can regenerate effectively, but so far no cells were known to enable this process.
Kenneth Poss and colleagues at Duke University in Durham showed that one type of cardiomyocyte allows regeneration. Cells in which a gene called gata4 is active travel to the damaged area, divide, and help rebuild the heart muscle.
Similarly, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte and his team at the Salk Institute observed that these cells differentiate and divide to repair and regenerate damaged heart muscle.
The results of both studies suggest that, at least in Danio, regeneration of the heart does not require the activation of the stem cell population. In addition, the discovery that cardiomyocytes help repair a damaged heart has the potential to contribute to the development of treatments for heart attack patients. (PAP)