Myocardial NF-κB Activation Is Essential for Zebrafish Heart Regeneration

The study from 8 years ago found that NF-κB signaling is essential for heart regeneration in zebrafish, as it induces cardiomyocyte proliferation and epicardial responses following cardiac injury. Inhibition of NF-κB resulted in a significant decrease in cardiomyocyte proliferation (9.1% vs. 17.3%, P = 0.005) and impaired heart regeneration. The research also showed that NF-κB directly interacts with the gata4 promoter, which is important for cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation, a process necessary for regeneration. However, overexpression of gata4 alone could not compensate for the lack of NF-κB signaling. The study, which employed transgenic zebrafish lines and various molecular techniques, suggests that NF-κB is a critical link in initiating the regenerative response after cardiac injury, with potential implications for human heart failure therapies.