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The heart under pressure: immune cells in fibrotic remodeling

Brandon Theall1,2, Pilar Alcaide1,2

  • 1Department of Immunology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.

Current Opinion in Physiology
|February 28, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Heart failure involves cellular changes in the heart, including immune cell interactions. Understanding these interactions with cardiac fibroblasts is key to addressing cardiac remodeling in heart failure.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Biology
  • Immunology
  • Cellular Biology

Background:

  • Heart failure (HF) is a complex syndrome marked by elevated left ventricular pressures.
  • Cardiac remodeling involves cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, fibroblast activation, extracellular matrix deposition, and leukocyte infiltration.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent advances in understanding the heart's cellular composition during homeostasis and pressure overload.
  • To emphasize immune cell communication with cardiac fibroblasts and its role in cardiac remodeling.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent scientific literature on cardiac cellular composition and response to pressure overload.
  • Focus on cellular interactions, particularly immune cells and cardiac fibroblasts.

Main Results:

  • Cardiac pressure overload triggers significant changes in cardiomyocyte, cardiac fibroblast, and leukocyte populations.
  • Immune cells actively communicate with cardiac fibroblasts, influencing cardiac remodeling processes.

Conclusions:

  • Immune cell-cardiac fibroblast crosstalk is a critical component of cardiac remodeling in heart failure.
  • Further research into these cellular communications may reveal novel therapeutic targets for heart failure.

Keywords:
Inflammationfibrosisheartleukocytes

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