Specific organ functions rely on differentiated cells. How differentiated
cells are replaced is a fundamental question in biology
with important implications for regenerative medicine.
So begins a recent paper in Cell which has shown heart cells in rodents can be stimulated to proliferate, thus repairing any damage. Typically the heart stops proliferating or regenerating shortly after birth, so any event that causes death the heart cells, like a heart attack (myocardial infarction), is currently quite irreversible. Past research on heart cell regeneration focused on trying to manipulate stem cells to differentiate into new heart muscle cells(cardiomyocytes). The breakthrough in this paper was to focus on healthy differentiated heart cells and see if any proteins could stimulate them to start dividing and repair the damage.
The scientists (Kevin Bersell, Shima Arab, Bernhard Haring, and Bernhard Kühn) tested the signaling protein, neuregulin1 (NRG1)) which is known to stimulate heart cell growth in prenatal development and even in fetal tissue. The results showed that neuregulin1 stimulated proliferation in 30% of the heart tissue as compared with 1% proliferation in control groups.
The finding represents a major breakthrough in regenerative medicine. The protein, neuregulin1, is administered via injection, creating a noninvasive method of heart tissue repair. Kühn, one of the major investigators of the paper, is already looking for profitable potential therapies.
Bersell, K., Arab, S., Haring, B. & Kuhn, B. (2009). Neuregulin1/ErbB4 Signaling Induces Cardiomyocyte Proliferation and Repair of Heart Injury Cell
Tags: regeneration, signalling protein, stem cells, therapies
