Volume 15 Issue 11, November 2018

The KardiaBand, which records a rhythm strip from an AppleWatch, was paired with an app for automated detection of atrial fibrillation. A new study by Bumgarner and colleagues is one of the first studies to examine the feasibility of using a smartwatch to discriminate between sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation.

The conflicting results of cell therapy clinical trials for heart regeneration have led to some confusion over the efficacy of this approach. This Review summarizes the main outcomes of these studies and gives perspectives for future cell-based regenerative trials largely based on the primary therapeutic target: regeneration of lost myocardium by exogenous cells or promotion of intrinsic repair though paracrine signalling.

This Review summarizes the current understanding on the roles of the Hippo–YAP pathway in cardiac development, growth, homeostasis, disease, and regeneration, with a particular focus on the roles of the Hippo–YAP pathway in endogenous cardiac muscle renewal, including the pivotal role of this pathway in regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation, differentiation, stress response, and mechanical signalling.

In this Review, de la Pompa and colleagues describe the role of the Notch pathway during the differentiation and patterning of cardiac tissues and in valve and ventricular chamber development, discussing the crosstalk with other signalling pathways, how defective Notch signalling is linked to congenital heart diseases, and the relevance of the Notch pathway in heart regeneration and repair.

In this Review, Meilhac and Buckingham discuss the origin of cardiac cell populations, their lineage relationships and the genes that regulate their behaviour and differentiation. Characterizing the progenitor cells that form the heart and the gene regulatory networks controlling their deployment is of major importance for understanding the origin of congenital heart malformations and for developing cardiac regeneration therapies.