[Experimental & Molecular Medicine] Scientists investigated whether urolithin A (UA) , a gut microbiome-derived mitophagy-activating compound, can ameliorate heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). In vitro and in vivo experiments, together with multi-omics analyses, showed that UA alleviated diastolic dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy, and fibrosis in HFpEF mice.

[Experimental & Molecular Medicine] This review focuses on cardiomyocyte alignment as a critical design requirement for improving electrophysiological and regenerative outcomes in hiPSC-cardiomyocyte based cardiac cell therapy. They summarize bioengineering strategies that impose or preserve alignments, including topographical guidance, mechanical anisotropy, and electrical conditioning.

[Stem Cell Reports] Scientists identifed PRDM16 as a regulator that influences the balance between proliferation and maturation in human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs).

[Basic Research in Cardiology] To evaluate the role of Integrin α3 (ITGA3) in vivo, scientists generated a mouse line with cardiomyocyte-specific ITGA3 depletion (ITGA3 KO). ITGA3 KO mice were characterized under baseline conditions and after permanent LAD ligation by echocardiography.

[Nature Genetics] Researchers exploited the value of cross-species analysis and developed single-cell methodologies in skeletal tissues to define the critical endosteal compartment that regulates bone turnover.

[Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences] Investigators examined the effects of Fhod3 depletion in primary cultured cardiomyocytes derived from Fhod3flox neonates. Long-range time-lapse imaging revealed that Fhod3 depletion around birth using muscle creatine kinase-Cre caused sarcomere disruption only in cells that had undergone mitosis.

[Cellular Signalling] Scientists confirmed that histone H3 lysine 18 lactylation (H3K18la) is abnormally elevated in osteogenic vascular smooth muscle cells. They demonstrated that H3K18la directly binds to the promoter region of AlkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5) and positively regulates its transcription.

[Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Molecular Basis of Disease] USP18 acts as a context-dependent regulator of muscle regeneration independent of its deISGylation function. The authors identified USP18 as a dual modulator of myogenesis and highlighted its potential as a therapeutic target in inflammatory muscle disease.

[Epicrispr Biotechnologies] Epicrispr Biotechnologies announced the completion of enrollment and dosing in the dose-escalation portion of its first-in-human clinical trial evaluating EPI-321 for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

[Emmecell (Businesswire)] Emmecell announced that the US FDA has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation to EO2002, the Company’s lead investigational magnetic human corneal endothelial cell therapy for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to corneal endothelial dysfunction.

[Bioengineer] Dr. Tim Allerton has recently been awarded a highly competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. This funding will support pioneering research into heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a rapidly growing and complex form of heart failure affecting millions of people worldwide.

[University of Münster] Biochemist Professor Dr. Lydia Sorokin from the University of Münster has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to finance her “BraIN” project. Her work addresses otransporting active substances across the blood-brain barrier.