Cardiomyocyte-expressed TGFβ programs early heart maturation and adult myocyte identity

From the report

Nature Cardiovascular Research, Published online: 23 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s44161-026-00892-6Minerath et al. show that cardiomyocyte-derived TGFβ orchestrates a developmental signaling network that is essential for heart maturation. By communicating with non-myocytes, TGFβ promotes cardiomyocyte identity, whereas its loss disrupts fibroblast maturation and activates skeletal muscle gene programs in cardiomyocytes.