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Epicardium

Chasing youth on the outside: unique features of the human fetal epicardium

Nature Cardiovascular Research volume 1, pages 1130–1131 (2022)Cite this article

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The epicardium has an active role in the formation of fetal and neonatal mammalian hearts, which retain the ability to regenerate. A single-cell comparison of human fetal and adult epicardial cells defines the transcriptomic programs that are specific to the fetal epicardium that could be harnessed to repair the injured adult heart.

In contrast to many other organs, the injured human adult heart is unable to repair itself. Ischemic conditions after, for example, myocardial infarction (MI) result in massive cardiac cell death. Because the surviving cardiomyocytes do not proliferate sufficiently, the dead tissue is rapidly replaced by a thick fibrous scar, which further hampers cardiac function. With the rise in patients with cardiac disease worldwide, there is a need for novel cellular approaches to regenerate the injured myocardium1. Interestingly, zebrafish and other species have the ability to fully regrow their heart after damage. Part of this process is driven through the activation of the epicardium — an epithelial layer on the outside of the heart — which makes this a particularly interesting cell type to investigate in the context of cardiac regeneration2.

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Fig. 1: Activity of the human epicardium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands

    Anke M. Smits & Marie Jose Goumans

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  1. Anke M. Smits
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  2. Marie Jose Goumans
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Correspondence to Anke M. Smits or Marie Jose Goumans.

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Smits, A.M., Goumans, M.J. Chasing youth on the outside: unique features of the human fetal epicardium. Nat Cardiovasc Res 1, 1130–1131 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-022-00191-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-022-00191-w

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