Diseased Hearts to Heal Themselves in Future

[TECH NEWS]

Cellular reversion processes arise in diseases of the heart muscle, for example myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathy, which limit the fatal consequences for the organ. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and the Schüchtermann Klinik in Bad Rothenfelde have identified a protein which fulfils a central task in this reversion process by stimulating the regression of individual heart muscle cells into their precursor cells. It is now planned to improve the self-healing powers of the heart with the help of this protein. To regenerate damaged heart muscle as caused by a heart attack, for example, the damaged muscle cells must be replaced by new ones. Simpler vertebrates like the salamander adopt a strategy whereby surviving healthy heart muscle cells regress into an embryonic state. This process, which is known as dedifferentiation, produces new cells which convert, in turn, into heart muscle cells. The cardiac function is then restored through remodelling of the muscle tissue. Thomas Braun’s research group at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim has now discovered the molecule responsible for controlling this dedifferentiation of heart muscle cells in mammals.

 11 Nov 2011, Max Planck Institute