PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kazuhiro Shindo
AU  - Hsuan Peng
AU  - Renée R. Donahue
AU  - Brooke M. Ahern
AU  - Bryana M. Levitan
AU  - Jonathan Satin
AU  - Ashley W. Seifert
AU  - Ahmed Abdel-Latif
TI  - Evaluating spiny mice (<em>Acomys</em>) as a model for cardiac research
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.29.317388
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.29.317388
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/01/2020.09.29.317388.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/01/2020.09.29.317388.full
AB  - Complex tissue regeneration is extremely rare among adult mammals. An exception, however, is the superior tissue healing of multiple organs in spiny mice (Acomys). While Acomys species exhibit the remarkable ability to heal complex tissue with minimal scarring, little is known about their cardiac structure and function. In this study, we characterized cardiac structure, anatomy, and in vivo function, as well as cardiomyocyte characteristics in Acomys compared to the most commonly used cardiac mouse model, the C57BL6 mouse strain (Mus). Our results demonstrate comparable cardiac anatomy, structure and function between the two rodent species, but reveal significant differences in their cardiomyocyte characteristics. These findings establish Acomys as a new mammalian model for cardiac research.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.