Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Mar;24(3):295-304.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-022-01647-y. Epub 2022 Jan 13.

Role of Cardiac Fibroblasts in Cardiac Injury and Repair

Maoying Han  1   2 , Bin Zhou  3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Role of Cardiac Fibroblasts in Cardiac Injury and Repair

Maoying Han et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose of review: The pathological remodeling of cardiac tissue after injury or disease leads to scar formation. Our knowledge of the role of nonmyocytes, especially fibroblasts, in cardiac injury and repair continues to increase with technological advances in both experimental and clinical studies. Here, we aim to elaborate on cardiac fibroblasts by describing their origins, dynamic cellular states after injury, and heterogeneity in order to understand their role in cardiac injury and repair.

Recent findings: With the improvement in genetic lineage tracing technologies and the capability to profile gene expression at the single-cell level, we are beginning to learn that manipulating a specific population of fibroblasts could mitigate severe cardiac fibrosis and promote cardiac repair after injury. Cardiac fibroblasts play an indispensable role in tissue homeostasis and in repair after injury. Activated fibroblasts or myofibroblasts have time-dependent impacts on cardiac fibrosis. Multiple signaling pathways are involved in modulating fibroblast states, resulting in the alteration of fibrosis. Modulating a specific population of cardiac fibroblasts may provide new opportunities for identifying novel treatment options for cardiac fibrosis.

Keywords: Cardiac fibroblasts; Fibroblast states; Origins of fibroblasts; Signaling pathways.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance
    1. Virani SS, Alonso A, Aparicio HJ, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2021 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2021;143(8):e254–e743. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000950 .
    1. Tallquist MD. Developmental Pathways of Cardiac Fibroblasts. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2020;12(4). https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a037184 .
    1. Eghbali M, Weber KT. Collagen and the Myocardium - Fibrillar Structure, Biosynthesis and Degradation in Relation to Hypertrophy and Its Regression. Mol Cell Biochem. 1990;96(1):1–14.
    1. Rockey DC, Bell PD, Hill JA. Fibrosis - A Common Pathway to Organ Injury and Failure. N Engl JMed. 2015;372(12):1138–49. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1300575 .
    1. Moore-Morris T, Guimaraes-Camboa N, Banerjee I, Zambon AC, Kisseleva T, Velayoudon A, et al. Resident fibroblast lineages mediate pressure overload-induced cardiac fibrosis. J Clin Invest. 2014;124(7):2921–34. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI74783 .

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources