It is called BMP7 and it is a growth factor that could repair a damaged heart, as happens for example after a heart attack. This is the promise contained in the discovery of a molecule that plays an important role in repairing the heart muscle. For now it has only been tested on animal models, but the hope is that in the future, and if the tests continue to be encouraging, it can become a useful tool in our cardiologies too. The same authors who characterized it and present it today on the web tell the promises of this growth factor pages Of Cell Reportsa team from the University of Bologna and IRCCS – Policlinico di Sant’Orsola (among the structures of excellence for cardiology), in collaboration with colleagues from German and Israeli institutes.
Observe animals to understand how to regenerate the heart
The discovery of the existence of something that can repair the heart is particularly noteworthy – also considering that for now the tests are limited to animals – because this organ is known to have a very low regenerative capacity, explain from the University of Bologna. After a heart attack, for example, the loss of cardiac cells (cardiomyocytes) is observed, replaced by fibrotic tissue, and in the absence of regeneration the evolution is often towards a condition of heart failure, the researchers write at the beginning of their article.
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However, the same does not happen throughout the animal kingdom, the authors say: some amphibians and some fish, for example, have a good cardiac regenerative capacity. The zebrafish in particular – an animal model widely used in research – boasts a good regenerative capacity, which persists throughout their life, even as adults if necessary. On the other hand, in mammals this ability is exhausted at birth or shortly after. Why? “We hypothesized that the loss of regenerative capacity in the immediate postnatal period was at least partly consequent to a decreased production of growth factors”, explained Gabriele Matteo D’Uva, of the University of Bologna, coordinator of the study. To understand if this was the situation, D’Uva and colleagues analyzed how the expression levels of some growth factors isolated from the hearts of mice varied shortly after birth.
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Growth factors for heart cells
Proceeding in this way they identified a handful of them that actually declined significantly after birth, and then tested them trying to measure their regenerative capacity. That is, the idea was to understand how these factors influenced the replication and growth of cardiomyocytes. Among those considered, one was particularly noteworthy, a molecule known as BMP7, added Chiara Bongiovanni, PhD student in Surgical Sciences and Innovative Technologies at the University of Bologna, explaining that it is: “A member of the family of bone morphogenetic proteins, called BMP”.
The promises for BMP7
When in fact the activity of BMP7 came turned off, the regenerative capacity of cardiomyocytes was also switched off, both for mouse and zebrafish cells. On the contrary, the authors explain, how much BMP7 activity was enhanced was possible restart cardiomyocytes, even after events such as a heart attack (again in animal models). “These results suggest that the administration of this factor may represent a new therapeutic strategy to promote heart regeneration – concludes D’Uva – If validated in humans, it could have a significant impact on the treatment of heart disease, one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide”. However, first, the authors conclude, it will be necessary to delve deeper into its mechanisms of action to fully investigate its regenerating effect, understand whether its action also influences other organs and study the most appropriate way to administer it.