The new study identifies that the Wntless (Wls) gene plays a critical role in heart regeneration in mice. Wls facilitates signal molecule secretion from cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) to cardiac fibroblasts—cells that produce connective tissue—in order to suppress CF activation, which in turn promotes heart functional recovery by reducing scar formation.

"In this study, we learned that the Hippo pathway, an inhibitory genetic mechanism, regulates cardiac scar formation based upon cross-communication between cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts vis-à-vis the Wnt signaling pathway; based upon this discovery, we are able to reduce scarring that is formed by fibroblasts following a myocardial infarction (heart attack) in neonatal mouse hearts," emphasized Shijie Liu, a research scientist in the Texas Heart Institute Cardiomyocyte Renewal Laboratory and a co-author on the study.

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