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Metformin accelerates zebrafish heart regeneration by inducing autophagy

Xie, Fangjing, Xu, Shisan, Lu, Yingying, Wong, Kin Fung, Sun, Lei, Hasan, Kazi Md Mahmudul, Ma, Alvin C. H., Tse, Gary, Manno, Sinai H. C., Tian, Li, and others. (2021) Metformin accelerates zebrafish heart regeneration by inducing autophagy. npj Regenerative Medicine, 6 . Article Number 62. ISSN 2057-3995. (doi:10.1038/s41536-021-00172-w) (KAR id:98731)

Abstract

Metformin is one of the most widely used drugs for type 2 diabetes and it also exhibits cardiovascular protective activity. However, the underlying mechanism of its action is not well understood. Here, we used an adult zebrafish model of heart cryoinjury, which mimics myocardial infarction in humans, and demonstrated that autophagy was significantly induced in the injured area. Through a systematic evaluation of the multiple cell types related to cardiac regeneration, we found that metformin enhanced the autophagic flux and improved epicardial, endocardial and vascular endothelial regeneration, accelerated transient collagen deposition and resolution, and induced cardiomyocyte proliferation. Whereas, when the autophagic flux was blocked, then all these processes were delayed. We also showed that metformin transiently enhanced the systolic function of the heart. Taken together, our results indicate that autophagy is positively involved in the metformin-induced acceleration of heart regeneration in zebrafish and suggest that this well-known diabetic drug has clinical value for the prevention and amelioration of myocardial infarction.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/s41536-021-00172-w
Subjects: R Medicine
R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Kent and Medway Medical School
Depositing User: Manfred Gschwandtner
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2022 12:09 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2022 13:26 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/98731 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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