Nipping at cardiac remodeling

Abstract

Much of the mortality following myocardial infarction results from remodeling of the heart after the acute ischemic event. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis has been thought to play a key role in this remodeling process. In this issue of the JCI, Diwan and colleagues present evidence that Bnip3, a proapoptotic Bcl2 family protein, mediates cardiac enlargement, reshaping, and dysfunction in mice without influencing infarct size (see the related article beginning on page 2825).