A section through the ventricles of a mouse heart showing neural crest-derived cells (magenta) that have differentiated into heart muscle (green). Image credit: Weiyi Tang (CC BY 4.0)
Before birth, unspecialized stem cells go through a process called differentiation to form the many types of cells found in the adult. Neural crest cells are a group of these stem cells found in all animals with backbones (i.e. vertebrates) including humans. These cells migrate extensively during development to form many different parts of the body. Due to their contributions to diverse organs and tissues, neural crest cells are very important for healthy development.
The heart ventricle is one of the tissues to which neural crest cells contribute during embryonic development in fish and amphibians. However, it was unclear whether this is also the case for birds or mammals or whether neural crest cells have any roles in the regeneration of the adult heart after injury in fish and amphibians.
To address these questions, Tang, Martik et al. used cell biology techniques to track neural crest cells in living animals. The experiments revealed that neural crest cells contribute to heart tissue in developing birds and mammals and help repair the heart in adult zebrafish. Further results showed that the contribution of neural crest cells to the heart is controlled by the same genes during both the growth of the embryonic heart and the repair of the adult heart.
These results provide new insights into the repair and healing of damaged heart muscle in fish. They also show that similar processes could exist in mammals, including humans, suggesting that activating neural crest cells in the heart could treat damage caused by heart attacks and related conditions.
