Thymosin β4 is cardioprotective after myocardial infarction

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in newborns and in adults. Efforts to promote cardiac repair by introduction or recruitment of exogenous stem cells hold promise but typically involve isolation and introduction of autologous or donor progenitor cells. We have found that the G-actin-sequestering peptide thymosin β4 promotes myocardial and endothelial cell migration in the embryonic heart and retains this property in postnatal cardiomyocytes. Survival of embryonic and postnatal cardiomyocytes in culture was also enhanced by thymosin β4. We found that thymosin β4 formed a functional complex with PINCH and integrin-linked kinase (ILK), resulting in activation of the survival kinase Akt/PKB, which was necessary for thymosin β4's effects on cardiomyocytes. After coronary artery ligation in mice, thymosin β4 treatment resulted in upregulation of ILK and Akt activity in the heart, enhanced early myocyte survival, and improved cardiac function. These findings suggest that thymosin β4 promotes cardiomyocyte and endothelial migration, survival, and repair and may be a novel therapeutic target in the setting of acute myocardial damage.