For a long time, there has been controversy about whether cardiomyocyte proliferation promotes muscle regeneration. Because it is related to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, the lack of cardiomyocytes will eventually lead to heart disease and even death. It is generally believed that the proliferation of mammalian cardiomyocytes ceases in the first few days of life. However, there is increasing evidence that adult rats and adult cardiomyocytes also proliferate, but at a very subtle level, they are still proliferating.
Recently, three articles published on eLIFE, NatureCellBiology and ScienceTranslationalMedicine revealed a major discovery. Therefore, the growth factor neuregulin 1 and its receptor protein ERBB2 in the signaling pathway can promote the regeneration of cardiomyocytes in zebrafish, mice and babies. Activated ERBB2 was first found in tumor cells, and its targeted drugs were used to treat breast cancer. Scientists doubt whether this method can be used to treat heart disease, because drug treatment is usually associated with the side effects of myocardial damage.
Zebrafish is a good model for studying the proliferation of the heart. Compared with the slow proliferation of mouse and human cardiomyocytes, zebrafish can recover within a few months after one-third of the heart is damaged.. Zebrafish reproduce rapidly and grow With short cycle and transparent body, it has become the third largest model creature after mice. Scientists have discovered through a large number of experiments that NRG1 can promote zebrafish cardiomyocyte division and heart regeneration through its co-receptor protein ERBB2. After discovering this pathway in zebrafish, scientists conducted experiments on young mice and found that this pathway can indeed enhance the ability of newborn mice to regenerate their hearts. Whether this approach affects newborns is unclear, but this method is expected to be used to treat severe neonatal heart defects.
Regarding whether RG1 can act on adult heart disease, scientists have also carried out related experiments to show that the NRG1-ERBB2 signaling pathway causes the heart swelling of adult zebrafish and adult mice, which leads to heart disease. I found it possible. This approach does show that it can promote cardiomyocyte proliferation, but how to ensure proper stimulation is the key. In any case, this approach can be used as a new method to treat cardiovascular diseases for human well-being.