Progress in cardiac research: from rebooting cardiac regeneration to a complete cell atlas of the heart

S.M. Davidson*, T. Padro, S. Bollini, G. Vilahur, D.J. Duncker, P.C. Evans, T. Guzik, I.E. Hoefer, J. Waltenberger, J. Wojta, C. Weber

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal(Systematic) Review article peer-review

Abstract

We review some of the important discoveries and advances made in basic and translational cardiac research in 2020. For example, in the field of myocardial infarction (MI), new aspects of autophagy and the importance of eosinophils were described. Novel approaches, such as a glycocalyx mimetic, were used to improve cardiac recovery following MI. The strategy of 3D bio-printing was shown to allow the fabrication of a chambered cardiac organoid. The benefit of combining tissue engineering with paracrine therapy to heal injured myocardium is discussed. We highlight the importance of cell-to-cell communication, in particular, the relevance of extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, which transport proteins, lipids, non-coding RNAs, and mRNAs and actively contribute to angiogenesis and myocardial regeneration. In this rapidly growing field, new strategies were developed to stimulate the release of reparative exosomes in ischaemic myocardium. Single-cell sequencing technology is causing a revolution in the study of transcriptional expression at cellular resolution, revealing unanticipated heterogeneity within cardiomyocytes, pericytes and fibroblasts, and revealing a unique subpopulation of cardiac fibroblasts. Several studies demonstrated that exosome- and non-coding RNA-mediated approaches can enhance human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) viability and differentiation into mature cardiomyocytes. Important details of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter and its relevance were elucidated. Novel aspects of cancer therapeutic-induced cardiotoxicity were described, such as the novel circular RNA circITCH, which may lead to novel treatments. Finally, we provide some insights into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the heart.[GRAPHICS].
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2161-2174
Number of pages14
JournalCardiovascular Research
Volume117
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2021

Keywords

  • Cardiac
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Myocardial injury
  • Heart failure
  • Non-coding RNA
  • Cardiomyocyte division
  • Induce pluripotent stem cells
  • Cardiotoxicity
  • Single-cell RNA sequencing s
  • COVID-19
  • INJURY
  • MACROPHAGES
  • TELOMERASE
  • EXOSOMES

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