Study Reveals Why Newborns Can Regenerate Heart Tissue While Adults Struggle After a Heart Attack
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A new study in experimental animals reveals a critical difference in how macrophages-a part of the immune system-help repair the heart in newborns versus adults after a heart attack. The study highlights a fundamental difference in how the immune system drives healing based on age. The study was published in the journal Immunity.
In newborns, macrophages perform a process called efferocytosis, which recognizes and eats dying cells. This process triggers the production of a bioactive lipid called thromboxane, signaling nearby heart muscle cells to divide, and allowing the heart to regenerate damaged heart muscle, the study found. In adults, macrophages produce much less thromboxane, leading to a weaker repair signal.
The study examined how the immune system responds to heart injury in mice of different ages, including newborn mice (one-day old) and adult mice (eight weeks old). The researchers found the ability of macrophages to engulf dying cells was enhanced in newborn mice due to increased expression of MerTK, a receptor that recognizes dying cells. Therefore, when the scientists blocked this key receptor, newborn mice lost their ability to regenerate their hearts, resembling adult hearts after a heart attack.
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