The response of the atrium to direct mechanical wounding in the adult heart of the newt,Notophthalmus viridescens

Summary Wound repair and proliferation were examined in the injured newt atrium with light- and electron-microscopic techniques including autoradiography. Hearts were injured by removing a piece approximately 0.5 mm² of the atrial wall. The five-day wound was an endothelial and mesothelial-lined blood clot bordered by a 150-m necrotic zone. Repair progressed from the periphery inward with areas of macrophage activity replaced by fibroblasts and connective tissue. The wound at 25 days consisted of a scar with few myocytes. There was no difference in the proliferative behavior between the right and left atria. Proliferative cells were localized to a 500-m reactive zone surrounding the wound. The maximum mesothelial cell thymidine-labeling index of 20.5% and mitotic index of 1.4% were seen 5 days after injury. The peak connective tissue cell thymidine-labeling index of 10.2% and mitotic index of 0.4% were seen 10 days after wounding. The peak thymidine-labeling index of 9.8% for myocardial cells was recorded 10 days after injury with a mitotic index of 0.2%. Proliferation returned to control levels by 25 days post-injury. Electron microscopy demonstrated that myocytes engaged in DNA synthesis were indistinguishable from control myocytes. Z-band material was not observed in mitotic myocytes, but myofilaments and junctions were present.