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Sustained miRNA release regenerates the heart

Nature Biomedical Engineering volume 1, pages 931–933 (2017)Cite this article

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Prolonged local delivery, via an injectable hydrogel, of a miRNA known to induce cardiomyocyte proliferation stimulates the recovery of mice from myocardial infarction.

Owing to the heart’s limited regenerative capacity, following myocardial infarction (MI), damaged myocardium is usually replaced with non-contractile scar tissue (rather than with new muscle cells). The heart is often unable to compensate for the resulting loss of contractile capacity, which can lead to dysfunction and eventually culminate in heart failure. Preclinical approaches that enable the replacement of lost myocardium following MI include the injection of cardiomyocytes (muscle cells of the heart) to repopulate the lost muscle1, or the systemic injection of genes, small molecules or growth factors to promote either the proliferation of endogenous cardiomyocytes or to stimulate transdifferentiation of fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes2. In addition, biomaterials are improving the delivery of the therapeutic cells or molecules3, for example, as tissue-engineered ‘patches’4.

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Fig. 1

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Katie A. Mitzelfelt & Charles E. Murry

  2. Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Katie A. Mitzelfelt & Charles E. Murry

  3. Center for Cardiovascular Biology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Katie A. Mitzelfelt & Charles E. Murry

  4. Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Charles E. Murry

  5. Department of Medicine/Cardiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Charles E. Murry

Authors
  1. Katie A. Mitzelfelt
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  2. Charles E. Murry
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles E. Murry.

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Competing interests

C.E.M. is a scientific founder of BEAT Biotherapeutics and holds equity in the company.

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Mitzelfelt, K.A., Murry, C.E. Sustained miRNA release regenerates the heart. Nat Biomed Eng 1, 931–933 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0171-0

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