C3orf58, a novel paracrine protein, stimulates cardiomyocyte cell-cycle progression through the PI3K-AKT-CDK7 pathway.

Rationale: The regenerative capacity of the heart is markedly diminished shortly after birth, coinciding with overall withdrawal of cardiomyocytes from cell cycle. Consequently, the adult mammalian heart has limited capacity to regenerate after injury. The discovery of factors that can induce cardiomyocyte proliferation is, therefore, of high interest and has been the focus of extensive investigation throughout the past years.