Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41237238›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Blocking nuclear receptor Nr4a3 unlocks the senescence barrier to promote direct cardiac reprogramming.

Mengxin Liu, Zhangyi Yu, Zechun He, Zhigao Zhou, Jie Liu, Lanbing Liu, Xin Wu, Jun Li, Yuanru Huang, Lilin Xiang and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Multicellular senescence programs in the aged heart.Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology plus · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Mengxin LiuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0009-0005-6574-2317
Zhangyi YuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0009-0009-6697-2279
Zechun HeDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0009-0005-7277-8385
Zhigao ZhouDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0009-0005-5731-0258
Jie LiuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Lanbing LiuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Xin WuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Jun LiDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Yuanru HuangDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Lilin XiangDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Xiangjie KongDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
Zhibing LuDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0000-0002-7950-3465
Li WangDepartment of Cardiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7415-5599

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes (iCMs) offers a regenerative strategy for heart repair, but efficiency declines in adult and aged cells. Transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling identified cellular senescence as a major barrier limiting cardiac fibroblast (CF) plasticity and cardiogenic conversion. Postneonatal fibroblasts exhibited impaired activation of cardiac gene programs and persistent expression of fibrotic and inflammatory signatures. A loss-of-function screen identified Nr4a3 as a central repressor. Nr4a3 overexpression promoted senescence and suppressed iCM induction, whereas knockdown enhanced reprogramming in murine and human senescent CFs. Mechanistically, Nr4a3 depletion remodeled the chromatin landscape from a fibrotic and inflammatory state to a regenerative cardiac program. Blocking downstream Cxcl14 restored reprogramming in refractory fibroblasts. In vivo, Nr4a3 knockdown improved heart function following myocardial infarction. These findings established cellular senescence as a major barrier to cardiac reprogramming and identified Nr4a3 and its effectors as potential targets to enhance heart regeneration.

Indexed as

Cellular ReprogrammingCellular SenescenceDNA-Binding ProteinsMyocytes, CardiacReceptors, SteroidReceptors, Thyroid HormoneAnimalsFibroblastsHumansMiceNerve Tissue ProteinsDNA-Binding ProteinsNerve Tissue ProteinsNR4A3 protein, humanNr4a3 protein, mouseReceptors, SteroidReceptors, Thyroid Hormone

Identifiers

PMID41237238
PMCPMC12617505

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.