About this Research Topic
The mammalian heart has transient regeneration potential shortly after birth, and the turnover of human cardiomyocytes drops to less than 1% per year in adulthood. When a heart attack occurs, the loss of blood supply causes damage to the cardiac muscle, which is nearly irreparable and insufficient replenishment of cardiomyocytes leads to the lost myocardial mass. However, the cardiomyocytes in the adult heart do stay in the postmitotic state, partly due to their polyploid nature caused by cell cycle variants. Thus, manipulation of the cardiomyocyte cell cycle could be a promising strategy for enhancing the plasticity of the heart, by inducing cardiomyocyte proliferation, and be a potential avenue for repairing some of the damage caused during a heart attack and other cardiac diseases.
The goal of this Research Topic is to understand how the cell cycle and cell division of cardiomyocytes in adult hearts are regulated at both a physiological and pathophysiological status. It is still debatable whether it is possible to induce the division of polyploid cardiomyocytes and their re-entrance into the cell cycle. The discovery of this study is thus critical for developing novel therapies for treating the diseased heart. This Topic will also discuss and compare the efficiency of the different approaches to repairing injured adult hearts that have previously been studied. We welcome original research and review articles that identify small molecules and endogenous proteins that can fulfill this process, uncover cross-talks in the context of cell-cell communications in the heart, and dissect the complete molecular and cellular mechanisms that control the cell cycle programs, cell cycle re-entry, or cell division of adult cardiomyocytes.
The scope of this Research Topic includes, but is not limited to:
1) Cell cycle progress and activities of cardiomyocytes
2) Adult heart disease and repair
3) Techniques in inducing heart regeneration
4) Cardiomyocyte proliferation
Keywords: Cell Cycle, Cardiomyocytes, Regeneration, Heart Muscle, Heart Disease
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.