BMP-7 Promotes Heart Regeneration
BMP-7 is a myokine, involved in muscle growth and upregulated in response to exercise. It is also involved in the development of muscle tissue in early life. One of the reasons that researchers are interested in this gene and related mechanisms of muscle maintenance, growth, and regeneration is to be able to promote greater recovery in an injured heart. Heart muscle is one of the least regenerative tissues in the body, and this limits recovery from a heart attack and resilience to the harmful aged tissue environment. Activating pathways involved in development or exercise may be the road to therapies that can incrementally improve the present situation for older people with heart disease.
Zebrafish have a lifelong cardiac regenerative ability after damage, whereas mammals lose this capacity during early postnatal development. This study investigated whether the declining expression of growth factors during postnatal mammalian development contributes to the decrease of cardiomyocyte regenerative potential. Besides confirming the proliferative ability of neuregulin 1 (NRG1), interleukin (IL)1b, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL), insulin growth factor (IGF) 2, and IL6, we identified other potential pro-regenerative factors, with BMP7 exhibiting the most pronounced efficacy.
Bmp7 knockdown in neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes and loss-of-function in adult zebrafish during cardiac regeneration reduced cardiomyocyte proliferation, indicating that Bmp7 is crucial in the regenerative stages of mouse and zebrafish hearts. Conversely, bmp7 overexpression in regenerating zebrafish or administration at post-mitotic juvenile and adult mouse stages, in vitro and in vivo following myocardial infarction, enhanced cardiomyocyte cycling. Mechanistically, BMP7 stimulated proliferation through BMPR1A/ACVR1 and ACVR2A/BMPR2 receptors and downstream SMAD5, ERK, and AKT signaling. Overall, BMP7 administration is a promising strategy for heart regeneration.
I don't understand this fully. I followed the myokine link to another FA! article and read it. Does it mean if we take pills with those myokine that we get the benefits of excercise without excercising? Both in term of aging and muscles?