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Review
. 2024 Sep 1;327(3):H681-H686.
doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00478.2024. Epub 2024 Aug 2.

Cardiac fibroblasts: answering the call

Petra Kleinbongard  1 , Samuel E Senyo  2 , Merry L Lindsey  3   4 , Alexandra M Garvin  5 , Jeremy A Simpson  6   7 , Lisandra E de Castro Braz  5
Affiliations
Review

Cardiac fibroblasts: answering the call

Petra Kleinbongard et al. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. .

Abstract

Cardiac fibroblasts play a pivotal role in maintaining heart homeostasis by depositing extracellular matrix (ECM) to provide structural support for the myocardium, vasculature, and neuronal network and by contributing to essential physiological processes. In response to injury such as myocardial infarction or pressure overload, fibroblasts become activated, leading to increased ECM production that can ultimately drive left ventricular remodeling and progress to heart failure. Recently, the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology issued a call for papers on cardiac fibroblasts that yielded articles with topics spanning fibroblast physiology, technical considerations, signaling pathways, and interactions with other cell types. This mini-review summarizes those articles and places the new findings in the context of what is currently known for cardiac fibroblasts and what future directions remain.

Keywords: fibrosis; ischemia; myocardium; physiology; pressure overload.

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Conflict of interest statement

M. L. Lindsey and P. Kleinbongard are editors of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and were not involved and did not have access to information regarding the peer-review process or final disposition of this article. An alternate editor oversaw the peer-review and decision-making process for this article. None of the other authors has any conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Summary of the contributions of this call to our understanding of the role of the cardiac fibroblast, highlighting Slit homolog 3 (SLIT3) protein, the co-chaperone Bcl2-associated athanogene 3 (BAG3), and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) actions. The image was created with a licensed version of BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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