Du et al.26 recently reported that lentiviral knockdown of Neat1 reduced infarct size in a mouse model of ischemia/reperfusion injury, but the authors did not show evidence for a specific effect on cardiomyocyte Neat1. Given that Neat1 also plays important roles for immune cell43 and endothelial functions44, a direct role for cardiomyocyte Neat1 in protecting the myocardium in vivo has yet to be elucidated46,47. This evidence concerns the gene NEAT1 and ischemia.