Heart vessels rebuild themselves after a heart attack
After a heart attack, part of the heart muscle is permanently damaged. But the heart has its own repair strategy, one that researchers have long not understood. A new study in Science shows how new small blood vessels form spontaneously.
When a coronary artery becomes blocked and blood flow to the heart muscle drops too low, the result is ischemia. Some people spontaneously develop small alternative vessels after a heart attack, rerouting blood to the affected area. These so-called coronary collaterals have been observed for decades, but their origin was unclear.
The researchers systematically traced the formation of these vessels. They found evidence that coronary collaterals do not grow from existing vessels branching outward, but instead form de novo from a specific progenitor cell population. This process of building entirely new blood vessels is called vasculogenesis. It differs from angiogenesis, in which existing vessels extend new sprouts.
What this means for cardiac recovery
Identifying this mechanism is relevant for people recovering from a heart attack. If researchers can determine which signals activate vasculogenesis, it may become possible to develop therapies that support or accelerate the process. In older individuals, cardiac repair capacity is generally reduced; aging disrupts the signaling pathways that guide new vessel formation. Whether this vasculogenesis mechanism is also impaired in older patients, and why, is a direct follow-up question.
The study appeared in Science and has so far produced evidence only in animal models and laboratory cells. Translating findings to clinical treatments for humans will require further steps. Still, identifying the progenitor cells involved is a valuable lead for future research into cardiac rehabilitation and vascular aging.
Aging and the heart’s capacity to repair
As people age, the ability of blood vessels to repair themselves declines. This is part of why older people recover less well from a heart attack than younger people. Understanding vasculogenesis gives researchers a concrete mechanism to target. For longevity science, this is a new piece of the vascular aging puzzle.
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