A metabolic–epigenetic switch governs multicellular cardiac repair following succinate dehydrogenase inhibition

Abstract

Cardiac regeneration is limited in the adult mammalian heart because of restricted cardiomyocyte proliferation and persistent fibrosis. We previously demonstrated that transient pharmacological inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) with malonate promotes regeneration after myocardial infarction. Here, we integrate single-nucleus RNA sequencing and ATAC-seq to reveal multicellular transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming underlying this response. Cell-specific Sdhb deletion dissected contributions of SDH inhibition; cardiomyocyte-specific Sdhb deletion transiently increased cardiomyocyte proliferation but did not improve post-myocardial infarction function, whereas myofibroblast-specific Sdhb deletion suppressed myofibroblast activation and fibrosis and improved cardiac function. SDH inhibition promoted reductive mitochondrial metabolism and remodeled H3K4me3-marked and H3K27me3-marked chromatin states in cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts. Integration of CUT&RUN, chromatin accessibility and transcriptional profiling identified regulatory targets linking metabolic and epigenetic remodeling to regenerative responses. Together, these findings establish SDH as a multicellular regulator of cardiac regeneration and define distinct cell-specific mechanisms contributing to the regenerative effects of transient pharmacological SDH inhibition. Using integrated multiomics and cell-specific genetic models, Fan et al. reveal how succinate dehydrogenase inhibition promotes multicellular cardiac repair after myocardial infarction through coordinated metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming, while defining distinct contributions of cardiomyocytes and myofibroblasts to this response.