The protein GPNMB is a critical regulator in the heart’s healing process after a heart attack. The findings of the respective study were published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.

After a heart attack, the heart does not heal, and the damaged muscles become scarred. This leads to heart failure, as the heart cannot pump blood efficiently because the scars do not contract like muscles do.

Previous studies have shown that higher levels of the protein GPNMB can reduce the risk of heart failure after a heart attack.

In a new experiment on mice, biologists have shown that immune cells in the bone marrow produce the protein GPNMB. Its binding to the receptor GPR39 contributes to the healing of the heart. One month after an artificially induced heart attack, severe heart scarring was observed in 67 percent of animals that lacked the protein GPNMB and 8 percent of animals that had normal amounts of it.

In the future, the receptor GPR39 could become a target for drugs that heal the heart after a heart attack.