Role of ATOH8 in Mitigating Cardiac Fibrosis in Heart Failure via Inhibition of the Transcriptional Repression of Smad7 by RUNX2

experiments in model mice of heart failure, we were able to demonstrate that the targeted overexpression of ATOH8 in fibroblasts via adeno-associated virus-9 carrying periostin significantly alleviated cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction induced by transverse aortic constriction surgery. Thus, the findings presented here indicate that ATOH8 potentially represents a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for the attenuation of cardiac fibrosis.