Are fat cells important for repairing heart muscle after a heart attack?

Epicardial fat: a duplicitous role during heart regeneration?

During a heart attack, blood vessels supplying the heart muscle become blocked, starving the heart of oxygen. The affected heart muscle tissue dies, and the damaged tissue is replaced by scar tissue that doesn’t function like healthy heart muscle. This can lead to heart failure. Although there are several treatments to help people with heart failure, there is currently no cure, and in some cases, heart transplantation may be the only option. Astyanax mexicanus is a species of fish living in rivers and caves in Mexico. Heart researchers are studying these interesting fish because those living in the rivers can quickly repair their hearts after damage, while the cave fish cannot. Scientists hope that by studying differences in these fish, they will reveal clues that could help us mend human hearts. Dr Mathilda Mommersteeg and her team from the University of Oxford have found that the river fish has fat on its heart, while there is little or none on the heart of the cave fish. When the cave fish sustains damage to its heart, extensive fatty scar tissue appears in the wound site. The team wants to investigate if fat cells are responsible for the different regenerative capacities in the two fish. Interestingly, fat cells have also been found in the scars of human hearts after heart attack. Dr Mommersteeg has been awarded a PhD studentship to allow a young researcher to investigate the role of fat cells during heart regeneration. The student will find out how fat appears in sites of damage in non-regenerative fish hearts, and will try and identify the chemicals and cells in the heart that are responsible for stimulating repair. This research may reveal ways we could encourage the human heart to repair itself after injury.