A protein from the zebrafish, popular species among aquarists and scientists, can awaken dormant genes that allow the heart to repair itself, reports the journal “Nature Cardiovascular Research.”
The human heart irretrievably loses millions of dead muscle cells after a heart attack. This results in difficulty pumping blood efficiently, often leading to heart failure. Unlike humans, a small fish striped danio has the ability to regenerate the heart. It produces new heart muscle cells.
Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Netherlands, have successfully repaired damaged mouse hearts using the protein(Hmga1). As they have previously shown, this protein plays a key role in heart regeneration in zebrafish. According to the authors, the study, supported by the Dutch Heart Foundation and the Hartekind Foundation, represents an important step toward regenerative therapies to prevent heart failure.
The research is described in the journal “Nature Cardiovascular Research”.

The authors want to refine and test the therapy. The next step is to see if the protein also works on human heart muscle cells in culture.
The study was conducted by the researchers from Hubrecht Institute and other institutions as part of the OUTREACH consortium, which enables collaboration between research institutes and all academic hospitals involved in treating patients with congenital heart defects in the Netherlands.
Source: Naukawposlce.pl.