From his lab at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy Drug Discovery Institute, Mingfu Wu, associate professor, is offering new hope for treating heart disease by sharing his insights into the fundamental process of how the heart is formed in utero. His findings, published in Science , focus on long, thin, channels of membranes – called Tunneling Nanotube-Like Structures - that connect cells together. Wu reports the structures may be a fundamental way for cells to communicate, offering new insights into heart disease development and potential treatments.
The formation of the heart depends on critical signals exchanged between its two main layers: the myocardium (the muscle that powers the heartbeat) and the endocardium (the inner lining of the heart). This communication is essential for ensuring the heart takes shape correctly and functions effectively.
"Here we characterized Tunneling Nanotube-Like Structures (TNTLs), which we found physically connecting cardiomyocytes in myocardium to endocardial cells in endocardium," reports Wu. "These structures likely help to facilitate long-distance intercellular communication essential for heart formation." Lianjie Miao, research assistant professor of pharmacology, is the paper's first author.
The signals are particularly important during development of the trabeculae, which are crucial in early heart development. Before the coronary system develops, trabeculae supply blood by increasing the inner surface area of the heart wall and enhancing the exchange of oxygen and nutrients between blood and the heart wall.
