When a heart attack strikes, heart muscle cells die and scar tissue forms, paving the way for heart failure. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of death worldwide, in part, because the cells in our most vital organ do not get renewed. As opposed to blood, hair, or skin cells that can renew themselves throughout life, our heart cells cease to divide shortly after birth, and there is very little renewal in adulthood. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science provides insight into the question of why the mammalian heart fails to regenerate, on one hand, and demonstrated, in adult mice, the possibility of turning back this fate. This research was published online on April 6, 2015 in Nature Cell Biology. The article is titled “ERBB2 Triggers Mammalian Heart Regeneration by Promoting Cardiomyocyte Dedifferentiation and Proliferation.” Professor Eldad Tzahor, of the Institute’s Biological Regulation Department and senior author of the article, thought that part of the answer to the regeneration puzzle might lie in his area of expertise: embryonic development, especially of the heart. Indeed, it was known that a protein called ERBB2 – which is well studied because it can pass along growth signals promoting certain kinds of cancer – plays a role in heart development. ERBB2 is a specialized receptor – a protein that transmits external messages into the cell. ERBB2 generally works together with a second, related, receptor by binding a growth factor called Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) to transmit its message. NGR1 is already being tested in clinical studies for treating heart failure. Dr. Gabriele D’Uva, a postdoctoral fellow in the research group of Professor Eldad Tzahor, wanted to know exactly how NRG1 and ERBB2 are involved in heart regeneration.Login Or Register To Read Full Story