Thymosin beta4 activates integrin-linked kinase and promotes cardiac cell migration, survival and cardiac repair

Bock-Marquette I, Saxena A, White MD, Dimaio JM, Srivastava D · Nature

Tβ4 formed a complex with PINCH and integrin-linked kinase, activating Akt; treated mice showed more surviving myocytes early after infarction and better cardiac function. This is the paper that started the therapeutic literature.

Population

Mice after coronary artery ligation; embryonic and postnatal cardiomyocytes in culture

Intervention

Thymosin β4, systemically and in culture

Comparator

Untreated / vehicle

Limitations

Rodent infarct model; the epicardial-reprogramming interpretation built on this work was later contested (see pmid-21907210, pmid-29864245).