A UCLA-led team has identified an essential internal control mechanism that can promote the maturation of human stem cell-derived heart muscle cells, offering a deeper understanding of how heart muscle cells develop from their immature fetal stage to their mature adult form. The findings, published on October 16, 2023 in Circulation, could lead to new therapies for heart disease and cardiac damage. The article is titled “Regulation of Postnatal Cardiomyocyte Maturation by an RNA Splicing Regulator RBFox1.” The collaborative effort with Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and other institutions identified an RNA splicing regulator named RBFox1, which was considerably more prevalent in adult heart cells than in newborns, based on a preclinical model. The sharp rise in RBFox1 during the maturation of heart cells was also confirmed through analyses of existing single-cell data.
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