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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Oct 26, 2025; 17(10): 109174
Published online Oct 26, 2025. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v17.i10.109174
Published online Oct 26, 2025. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v17.i10.109174
Heart-brain axis, gliotransmitters and peripheral neurogenesis: Emerging regenerative roles of cardiac nexus glia in health and disease
Abirami Sekhar, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India
Mahesh Kandasamy, Laboratory of Stem Cells and Neuroregeneration, Department of Animal Science, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India
Mahesh Kandasamy, University Grants Commission-Faculty Recharge Programme, New Delhi 110002, India
Author contributions: Sekhar A contributed to writing-original draft, review, and editing; Kandasamy M contributed to conceptualization, writing-original draft, review, editing, and preparation of figures.
Supported by UGC-FRP; Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0, Biological Sciences, Bharathidasan University, No. TN RUSA: 311/RUSA (2.0)/2018; Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)/Science Engineering Research Board (SERB), No. CRG/2023/005266; and UGC-SAP and DST-FIST to the Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mahesh Kandasamy, Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Stem Cells and Neuroregeneration, Department of Animal Science, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Palkalaiperur, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India.
Received: May 6, 2025
Revised: June 5, 2025
Accepted: September 10, 2025
Published online: October 26, 2025
Processing time: 176 Days and 8.2 Hours
Revised: June 5, 2025
Accepted: September 10, 2025
Published online: October 26, 2025
Processing time: 176 Days and 8.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Cardiac nexus cells are a specialized cell type in the heart that exhibit phenotypic similarities to astrocytes in the brain. As radial glia-like astrocytes serve as multipotent neural stem cells, cardiac nexus cells may differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. This article introduces a novel concept of peripheral neurogenesis, proposing that neurogenic activity originates outside the central nervous system, especially in the heart. Eventually, cardiac nexus cells could contribute to the neurocardiac axis through the release of gliotransmitters and regulate neurogenesis in the brain, while their dysfunction could be associated with neurocardiac disorders.