Sarcomeres regulate heart muscle cell maturation

What is it about?

Heart muscle cells undergo many changes in the neonatal period so that they can forcefully and efficiently contract billions of times across an animal's lifespan. Here we identify a positive feedback loop in which sarcomeres, the fundamental contractile unit of heart muscle cells, stimulates this maturation process.

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Why is it important?

Heart muscle cell maturation is critical for normal heart development and function. Abnormal maturation likely contributes to heart muscle disease, and development of methods to promote heart muscle cell maturation will enhance the use of stem cells for cardiac disease modeling and cardiac regeneration.