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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
Isolation and Characterization of Adult Cardiac Fibroblasts and Myofibroblasts
Published on: March 12, 2020
Cardiac fibroblasts in cell culture systems: myofibroblasts all along?
1Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. rohr@pyl.unibe.ch
Insights
Cardiac fibroblasts and myofibroblasts interact electrically and via paracrine signaling with cardiomyocytes. Understanding this crosstalk is crucial for cardiac health, but requires better research methods for intact tissues.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Cellular Interactions
- Cardiac Fibroblast Research
Background:
- The working myocardium comprises cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts, with fibroblasts vital for extracellular matrix structure.
- Interactions between cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes, including paracrine and electrotonic signaling, are not fully understood.
- In vivo cell intermingling hinders direct investigation of heterocellular crosstalk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent insights into electrical and paracrine crosstalk between myofibroblasts and cardiomyocytes.
- To highlight the limitations of current culture systems in studying fibroblast-cardiomyocyte interactions.
- To emphasize the need for improved methodologies for investigating cell crosstalk in intact cardiac tissue.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on cardiac fibroblast and myofibroblast interactions with cardiomyocytes.
- Analysis of cell culture system limitations, particularly the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast phenotype switch.
- Discussion of challenges in studying in vivo heterocellular crosstalk.
Main Results:
- Cardiac fibroblasts exhibit a phenotype switch to myofibroblasts in 2D culture, mimicking injured heart conditions.
- Myofibroblasts engage in electrical and paracrine crosstalk with cardiomyocytes, influencing fibrotic remodeling.
- Current research methods limit the direct investigation of these interactions in their native context.
Conclusions:
- Understanding myofibroblast-cardiomyocyte crosstalk is essential for comprehending cardiac fibrotic remodeling.
- Future research requires methodologies that maintain fibroblast phenotype in culture and enable in vivo crosstalk studies.
- Advancements in studying heterocellular crosstalk are critical for developing targeted cardiac therapies.
Abstract:
The cytoarchitecture of the working myocardium is characterized by densely packed cardiomyocytes that are embedded in a three-dimensional network of numerous fibroblasts. Although the importance of cardiac fibroblasts in maintaining an orderly structured extracellular matrix is well recognized, less is known about their potential paracrine and electrotonic interactions with cardiomyocytes. This is partly the result of the complex intermingling of both cell types in vivo that tends to preclude a direct investigation of heterocellular crosstalk. It is for that reason that most of our present knowledge regarding stromal-parenchymal cell interactions is based on culture systems that permit direct access to either cell type. An often disregarded feature of such studies is that cardiac fibroblasts in standard two-dimensional cell culture have a pronounced tendency to undergo a phenotype switch to myofibroblasts. This cell type typically appears in injured hearts where it contributes importantly to fibrotic remodeling. The present review focuses on recent insights into electrical and paracrine crosstalk between myofibroblasts and cardiomyocytes while acknowledging that a comprehensive understanding of stromal-parenchymal cell interactions will depend on future methodological developments that permit retaining the fibroblast phenotype in cell culture systems and that will, most importantly, allow direct investigations of heterocellular crosstalk in intact tissue.
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