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The Role of TGF—β Signaling in Cardiomyocyte Proliferation

  • Translational Research in Heart Failure (J. Backs and M. van den Hoogenhof, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The loss of contractile function after heart injury remains one of the major healthcare issues of our time. One strategy to deal with this problem would be to increase the number of cardiomyocytes to enhance cardiac function. In the last couple of years, reactivation of cardiomyocyte proliferation has repeatedly demonstrated to aid in functional recovery after cardiac injury.

Recent Findings

The Tgf-β superfamily plays key roles during development of the heart and populating the embryonic heart with cardiomyocytes. In this review, we discuss the role of Tgf-β signaling in regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation during development and in the setting of cardiac regeneration.

Summary

Although various pathways to induce cardiomyocyte proliferation have been established, the extent to which cardiomyocyte proliferation requires or involves activation of the Tgf-β superfamily is not entirely clear. More research is needed to better understand cross-talk between pathways that regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation.

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Acknowledgments

DWS is supported by National Institutes of Health grant T32GM113846, and JHvB is supported by NIH (HL130072), Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (RMM102516-009), and an Individual Biomedical Research Scholarship from The Hartwell Foundation. Illustrations were provided by L. Sorensen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lillehei Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Daniel W. Sorensen & Jop H. van Berlo

  2. Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Daniel W. Sorensen

  3. Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Daniel W. Sorensen & Jop H. van Berlo

  4. Integrative Biology and Physiology graduate program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jop H. van Berlo

  5. Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Building, University of Minnesota, 2231 6th St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Jop H. van Berlo

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Correspondence to Jop H. van Berlo.

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Daniel Sorensen and Jop van Berlo declare that they have no conflict of interests. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the authors.

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Sorensen, D.W., van Berlo, J.H. The Role of TGF—β Signaling in Cardiomyocyte Proliferation. Curr Heart Fail Rep 17, 225–233 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-020-00470-2

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