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Regenerative medicine

Reprogramming the injured heart

Nature volume 485, pages 585–586 (2012)Cite this article

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When the heart is injured, the muscle does not regenerate and scars are produced. This process can be attenuated in the hearts of live mice by forcing scar-forming cells to become muscle cells. See Articles p.593 & p.599

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Because of the heart's limited ability to regenerate, injuries such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) heal by scar formation rather than muscle regeneration. As a result, the heart pumps less efficiently, leading to the burgeoning epidemic of heart failure seen today. Current medical therapies support the heart with its reduced function, but scientists and clinicians are eager to learn how to regenerate damaged heart muscle. On pages 593 and 599 of this issue, Qian et al.1 and Song et al.2 describe how, in an effort to improve cardiac function, they have induced scar-forming cells (fibroblasts) to become muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) in the injured hearts of live mice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nathan J. Palpant and Charles E. Murry are in the Departments of Pathology, Bioengineering and Medicine/Cardiology, Center for Cardiovascular Biology, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA.,

    Nathan J. Palpant & Charles E. Murry

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  1. Nathan J. Palpant
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  2. Charles E. Murry
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Correspondence to Charles E. Murry.

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Palpant, N., Murry, C. Reprogramming the injured heart. Nature 485, 585–586 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/485585a

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