Cell patterning: interaction of cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts in three-dimensional culture

Patterning of cells is critical to the formation and function of the normal organ, and it appears to be dependent upon internal and external signals. Additionally, the formation of most tissues requires the interaction of several cell types. Indeed, both extracellular matrix (ECM) components and cellular components are necessary for three-dimensional (3-D) tissue formation in vitro. Using 3-D cultures we demonstrate that ECM arranged in an aligned fashion is necessary for the rod-shaped phenotype of the myocyte, and once this pattern is established, the myocytes were responsible for the alignment of any subsequent cell layers. This is analogous to the in vivo pattern that is observed, where there appears to be minimal ECM signaling, rather formation of multicellular patterns is dependent upon cell-cell interactions. Our 3-D culture of myocytes and fibroblasts is significant in that it models in vivo organization of cardiac tissue and can be used to investigate interactions between fibroblasts and myocytes. Furthermore, we used rotational cultures to examine cellular interactions. Using these systems, we demonstrate that specific connexins and cadherins are critical for cell-cell interactions. The data presented here document the feasibility of using these systems to investigate cellular interactions during normal growth and injury.