A team of researchers, including a professor from Texas A&M University, has developed an experimental injection that could help the heart heal after a heart attack. The findings were published in Science and show that a single dose of the injection can prompt the body to produce a hormone beneficial for heart recovery over several weeks.
After a heart attack, the body naturally releases atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a hormone that helps reduce stress on the heart and limit long-term damage. However, the amount produced is typically too small to significantly aid recovery. The new approach uses an injection into skeletal muscle to temporarily instruct muscle cells to make more ANP, allowing it to circulate through the bloodstream and support cardiac repair.
"It's essentially a boost to the heart's own defense system," said Huang, one of the study authors. "The body already uses ANP as a protective tool. We're just helping it produce enough to matter during a critical window of healing."
The technology behind this treatment is self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), which provides efficient instructions for hormone production in the body. "This technology gives us a more efficient way to help the body make what it needs, when it needs it," Huang explained. "A single dose can create a sustained effect, and that's something we simply couldn't achieve with older approaches."
Currently, there are no therapies that fully prevent long-term decline in heart function after surviving a heart attack due to scarring and loss of healthy tissue. The researchers hope their method will offer extra support during recovery and reduce harmful effects such as scarring while preserving healthy muscle.
"Our goal is to protect the heart right when it's most vulnerable," Huang said. "If we can ease that early stress and support repair, we may be able to change the trajectory of recovery for patients."
The new injection builds on earlier research by Huang's group involving microneedle patches applied directly to the surface of the heart. That work identified NPR1 signaling as important for immune benefits during cardiac repair. "Our previous patch research identified the NPR1 signaling pathway as one of the primary drivers for the immunomodulatory benefits for heart repair," Huang explained. "Since ANP is the natural ligand for the NPR1 receptor, this current study essentially builds on top by exploring how ANP-triggered activation leads to cardiac repair."
Delivering therapy through an injection rather than surgery represents significant progress toward making such treatments accessible in clinical settings. "It brings this type of therapy into a space where it could truly be used in everyday clinical care," he said.
The project involved collaboration between Texas A&M University, Columbia University, and University of Oxford researchers. "This kind of progress takes a team," Huang said. "Different groups bring different strengths - from molecular design to cardiovascular biology - and that collaboration is what allowed us to advance this concept so quickly."
Further studies are planned on safety and dosing before human trials begin, but researchers are optimistic about its potential use in routine care if results remain positive.
"It's easy to imagine a treatment like this being given quickly and safely," Huang said. "That accessibility is what makes this work so compelling. If future studies continue to show strong results, this could become a meaningful new tool for heart attack care."
