1994). It is highly upregulated at the infarct border zone post‐MI (Murry et al. 1994) and has been associated with the development of cardiac disease, specifically cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure (Graf et al. 1997; Stawowy et al. 2002; Xie et al. 2004). However, the extent of OPN involvement in the post‐MI microenvironment and how OPN is linked to cardiac disease post‐MI is not understood despite it being previously used as a predictor of adverse outcomes related to vascular conditions (Lutz et al. 2017) and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (Rosenberg et al. 2008). The gene discussed is SPP1; the disease is heart failure.