Scientists have discovered new formation of a distinct coronary vascular population in the neonatal heart, a finding that may provide new strategies for the treatment of myocardial infarction.
The breakthrough, published on the Science magazine website on Friday, points out that a substantial portion of postnatal coronary vessels form in the neonatal mouse heart instead of expanding from preexisting embryonic vasculature.
According to Professor Zhou Bin with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, lineage conversion of neonatal endocardial cells during trabecular compaction generates a distinct compartment of the coronary circulation located within the inner half of the ventricular wall. This lineage conversion provides an efficient means of rapidly augmenting the coronary vasculature.
The finding is expected to provide clues for understanding and stimulating cardiovascular regeneration following injury and disease.
Myocardial infarction caused by coronary artery disease is a major cause of deaths.