Harnessing the power of dividing cardiomyocytes

Lower vertebrates, such as newt and zebrafish, retain a robust cardiac regenerative capacity following injury. Recently, our group demonstrated that neonatal mammalian hearts have a remarkable regenerative potential in the first few days after birth. Although adult mammals lack this regenerative potential, it is now clear that there is measurable cardiomyocyte turnover that occurs in the adult mammalian heart. In both neonatal and adult mammals, proliferation of pre-existing cardiomyocytes appears to be the underlying mechanism of myocyte turnover. This review will highlight the advances and landmark studies that opened new frontiers in cardiac regeneration.