Researchers from the Bakkers group at the Hubrecht Institute have successfully repaired damaged mouse hearts using a protein from zebrafish. They discovered that the protein Hmga1 plays a key role in heart regeneration in zebrafish.
Humans after a heart attack, the human heart loses millions of muscle cells that cannot regrow. This often leads to heart failure, where the heart struggles to pump blood effectively. Unlike humans, zebrafish grow new heart muscle cells: they have a regenerative capacity. When a zebrafish heart is damaged, it can fully restore its function within 60 days.
This showed us that Hmga1 plays a key role in heart repair.” Typically, the Hmga1 protein is important during embryonic development when cells need to grow a lot. However, in adult cells, the gene for this protein is turned off.
https://www.hubrecht.eu/zebrafish-protein-unlocks-dormant-genes-for-heart-repair/
ref - https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-024-00588-9
Humans after a heart attack, the human heart loses millions of muscle cells that cannot regrow. This often leads to heart failure, where the heart struggles to pump blood effectively. Unlike humans, zebrafish grow new heart muscle cells: they have a regenerative capacity. When a zebrafish heart is damaged, it can fully restore its function within 60 days.
This showed us that Hmga1 plays a key role in heart repair.” Typically, the Hmga1 protein is important during embryonic development when cells need to grow a lot. However, in adult cells, the gene for this protein is turned off.
https://www.hubrecht.eu/zebrafish-protein-unlocks-dormant-genes-for-heart-repair/
ref - https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-024-00588-9