How do individual cells help to repair the heart?

In our bodies, heart attacks lead to cell death and inflammation. This is then followed by a healing phase where the organ repairs itself. There are many types of heart cells, from muscle and pacemaker cells that help to create the beating motion, to so-called fibroblasts that act as a supporting network. Yet, it is still unclear how individual cells participate in the heart's response to injury.

All cells possess the same genetic information, but they turn on or off different genes depending on the specific tasks that they need to perform. Spotting which genes are activated in individual cells can therefore provide clues about their exact roles in the body. Until recently, technological limitations meant that this information was difficult to access, because it was only possible to capture the global response of a group of cells in a sample.

A new method called single-cell RNA sequencing is now allowing researchers to study the activities of many genes in thousands of individual cells at the same time. Here, Farbehi, Patrick et al. performed single-cell RNA sequencing on over 30,000 individual cells from healthy and injured mouse hearts. Computational approaches were then used to cluster cells into groups according to the activities of their genes.

The experiments identified over 30 distinct sub-types of cell, including several that were previously unknown. For example, a group of fibroblasts that express a gene called Wif1 was discovered. Previous genetic studies have shown that Wif1 is essential for the heart's response to injury. Further experiments by Farbehi, Patrick et al. indicated that this new sub-type of cells may control the timing of the different aspects of heart repair after damage.

Tens of millions of people around the world suffer from heart attacks and other heart diseases. Knowing how different types of heart cells participate in repair mechanisms may help to find new targets for drugs and other treatments.