Macrophages trigger cardiomyocyte proliferation by increasing epicardial vegfaa expression during larval zebrafish heart regeneration.

ABSTRACT: Cardiac injury leads to the loss of cardiomyocytes, which are rapidly replaced by the proliferation of the surviving cells in zebrafish, but not in mammals. In both the regenerative zebrafish and non-regenerative mammals, cardiac injury induces a sustained macrophage response. Macrophages are required for cardiomyocyte proliferation during zebrafish cardiac regeneration, but the mechanisms whereby macrophages facilitate this crucial process are fundamentally unknown. Using heartbeat-synchronized live imaging, RNA sequencing, and macrophage-null genotypes in the larval zebrafish cardiac injury model, we characterize macrophage function and reveal that these cells activate the epicardium, inducing cardiomyocyte proliferation. Mechanistically, macrophages are specifically recruited to the epi

SUBMITTER: Bruton FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9616726 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature