The Emerging Role of TR𝜶1 in Cardiac Repair: Potential Therapeutic Implications

Figure 1

Critical levels of thyroid hormone (TH) induce metamorphosis in salamanders. Low TH can adapt salamander to low oxygen aquatic environment by inducing growth with embryonic characteristics. Addition of TH allows adaptation to terrestrial life and completes metamorphosis. Analogies seem to exist in mammals with TH to determine the phenotypic characteristics of the myocardium (pathological versus physiological growth) after ischemic events. Evolutionary conserved mechanisms of adaptation may be the basis for cardiac repair. (Permission by Johnson and Voss [4].)