Researchers have discovered a new cell type that may help regulate blood vessel growth in the heart during development and in response to injury, according to a study from Weill Cornell Medicine. Working with zebrafish, they found that the new cell type helps stabilize the vascular network that supplies oxygen to growing cardiac muscle.
The findings, published Aug. 20 in Nature Communications, could provide novel insights into how the human heart builds its blood-vessel network and guide future efforts to promote heart regeneration after injury.
“Our ultimate goal is to repair the damaged human heart,” says Dr. Jingli Cao, associate professor of cell and developmental biology and a member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Weill Cornell. “Being able to rebuild vessels at the right time and in the right location is key to the process.”
Starting on the Surface
Dr. Cao’s search began as a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University, where he determined that the epicardium, the thin layer of cells that surrounds the heart, provides both the signals and the cells needed to regenerate heart tissue in zebrafish.
