Figure 1. Schematic describing the hypothesis that the time-delayed improvements in cardiac function are dependent upon the maturation of reprogrammed cells.

(A)The cardiac function data (fractional shortening) vs time are derived from Jayawardena et al. ¹¹. The upper panel depicting the progression of transdifferentiation (with specific cardiac gene expression) to maturation is based partly on data¹¹ and partly on hypothesis.

(B) The putative factors influencing cardiomyocyte maturation in vivo: paracrine factors released by other cardiac cells, the composition of the ECM, mechanical forces and/or cell:cell communication.