Washington : In a development that could pave the way for heart tissue regeneration, US and Chinese scientists claim to have successfully used a tiny molecule that fine-tunes gene expression to stimulate the mouse heart to grow new cells, reports IANS.
Unlike other organs, the adult human heart lacks the ability to form new cells and repair damage after an injury such as a heart attack.
Only mice have been found to renew cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells, for up to six days after birth.
A team led by Edward Morrisey, professor of the University of Pennsylvania, wondered if they could resurrect this regenerative potential in adult mice using a molecule called miR302-367 that drives cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during embryonic development in mammals, including humans.
They found that in newborn mice, over-expressing this molecule boosted heart muscle cell proliferation, while deleting it blunted cell growth.
Further research revealed that miR302-367 blocks genes in a signaling pathway called Hippo, which acts as a molecular brake that prevents cells from dividing.
Releasing this brake “allows cardiomyocytes to re-enter the cell cycle and begin to regrow heart muscle”, Xinhua news agency cited Morrisey as saying.
