Damage to the heart, for example due to a heart attack, is not repaired in humans and is therefore permanent. The regenerative capacity of heart muscle cells is lost soon after birth, when these cells transition to their adult form. Researchers from the Van Rooij group at the Hubrecht Institute have identified ARID1A as an important protein in regulating this transition. In addition, they were able to stimulate heart tissue repair by suppressing ARID1A in a model of heart damage. The results of the study were published on August 5, 2023 in Nature Communications and may in the future contribute to developing treatments to repair heart damage. This is reported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
During a heart attack, part of the heart muscle does not receive enough oxygen due to a blockage in the blood supply. The heart muscle cells cannot cope well with this oxygen deficiency and can be damaged or even die. Once heart cells have died, they cannot be formed again in the adult heart, which means that the heart cannot recover sufficiently after a heart attack or other damage. Newborn babies’ hearts, on the other hand, are better able to repair themselves by forming new heart muscle cells. Researchers from the Van Rooij group wondered how it is possible that the cells lose their repair capacity over time, and whether it would be possible to activate this capacity again in an adult heart to repair damage.
By: National Education Guide
2023-08-17 08:16:16
#Research #Hubrechts #Institute #helps #develop #repair #heart #damage
