Maturing heart muscle cells: Mechanisms and transcriptomic insights

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Biology
• Stem Cell Biology
• Developmental Biology

Background:

• Cardiomyocyte (CM) maturation is a complex process transforming fetal CMs into adult CMs.
• Pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs (PSC-CMs) exhibit incomplete maturation in culture, limiting their applications.
• Significant research efforts focus on achieving mature PSC-CMs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review key aspects of native CM maturation.
• To discuss recent findings on factors and mechanisms regulating CM maturation.
• To explore biomimetic strategies for enhancing PSC-CM maturation.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cardiomyocyte maturation.
• Emphasis on transcriptional regulation and gene expression analysis.
• Discussion of single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) as a tool for studying maturation.
• Analysis of biomimetic strategies and their effects.

Main Results:

• Maturation involves significant changes in CM morphology, function, metabolism, and transcriptome.
• Transcriptional regulation plays a critical role in controlling CM maturation.
• scRNA-seq is instrumental in analyzing time-series gene regulation and maturation states.
• Biomimetic strategies show promise in improving PSC-CM maturation.

Conclusions:

• Understanding CM maturation is crucial for advancing regenerative medicine.
• Targeting transcriptional regulation and employing biomimetic approaches can enhance PSC-CM maturation.
• Mature PSC-CMs hold significant potential for biomedical applications, including disease modeling and cell therapy.