Ischemic tolerance and cardiac repair in the African spiny mouse

Abstract

Ischemic heart disease and by extension myocardial infarction is the primary cause of death worldwide, necessitating regenerative therapies to restore heart function. Current models of heart regeneration are restricted in that they are not of adult mammalian origin, precluding the study of class-specific traits that have emerged throughout evolution, and reducing translatability of research findings to humans. Here, we overcome those restrictions by introducing the African spiny mouse (Acomys spp.), a murid rodent that has recently been found to exhibit bona fide regeneration of the back skin and ear pinna. We show that spiny mice exhibit tolerance to myocardial infarction through superior survivability, improved ventricular conduction, smaller scar size, and near-absence of cardiac remodeling. Critically, spiny mice display increased vascularization and cardiomyocyte expansion, with an associated improvement in heart function. These findings present new avenues for mammalian heart research by leveraging unique tissue properties of the spiny mouse.