Cardiac Regeneration Overview

Principles

Definition

Cardiac regeneration is the biological process and associated research field focused on the repair and replacement of damaged heart tissue, aiming to restore cardiac structure and function. It investigates the limited intrinsic regenerative capacity of the adult mammalian heart and explores therapeutic strategies, including cell-based approaches, gene therapy, and pharmacological interventions, to stimulate myocyte proliferation, replace fibrotic scar tissue with functional myocardium, and improve outcomes following injury such as myocardial infarction.

Ontological type

Cell Sources

Molecular Pathways

Clinical Trials

Key developments

Key Figures

Graft-derived Therapies era

Piero Anversa [1] was active at Albert Einstein College of Medicine [3] and the University of Chicago [4] during the Graft-derived Therapies era. His key contribution was the demonstration that bone marrow cells regenerate infarcted myocardium [6], providing a proof-of-principle for graft-derived regeneration and motivating strategies to improve engraftment and durability. Jan Kajstura [2] was associated with Albert Einstein College of Medicine [3] and St. Boniface Hospital [5] in this era. His work on bone marrow cells regenerating infarcted myocardium [6] highlighted the potential of bone marrow-derived cells to contribute to myocardial repair and served as a foundational insight for graft-derived therapies in this era.

Multimodal Repair Strategies era

Jan Kajstura [1], affiliated with the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology [3] and Harvard University [4], contributed to the cardiac regeneration discourse of this era. In this era, his papers established that adult cardiac stem cells are multipotent and support myocardial regeneration [5], demonstrated that cardiac stem cells delivered intravascularly traverse the vessel barrier, regenerate infarcted myocardium, and improve cardiac function [6], and described stem cell niches in the adult mouse heart [7], collectively signaling the integration of endogenous repair cues with graft-based strategies. Annarosa Leri [2], affiliated with the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology [3] and Harvard University [4], contributed to these themes alongside Kajstura. Her work on the same papers [5], [6], and [7] highlights the multipotent nature of adult cardiac stem cells and niche biology as foundations for multimodal repair, underscoring how endogenous cues and engineered grafts can cooperate to drive durable remodeling.

Reactivation of Cardiac Plasticity era

Eric N. Olson [1] is a central figure in this era (2011-2024) of cardiac plasticity, with affiliations at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center [3] and Washington University in St. Louis [4]. His key contributions include pioneering reprogramming of non-myocytes into cardiac lineages as demonstrated in Heart repair by reprogramming non-myocytes with cardiac transcription factors [6], the Hippo pathway effector Yap promotes cardiac regeneration [7], and Mechanistic basis of neonatal heart regeneration revealed by transcriptome and histone modification profiling [8], which collectively advanced the field's capacity to reactivate cardiac proliferative potential [6][7][8]. Rhonda Bassel‐Duby [2] is another leading figure in this era, with affiliations at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center [3] and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology [5]. Her contributions align with the same body of work, including co-authorship on Heart repair by reprogramming non-myocytes with cardiac transcription factors [6], Hippo pathway effector Yap promotes cardiac regeneration [7], and Mechanistic basis of neonatal heart regeneration revealed by transcriptome and histone modification profiling [8], underscoring the collaborative map of cardiac plasticity during 2011-2024 [6][7][8].