Mulholland MSc D L, Gotlieb Md Cm Frcp A I
Vascular Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, The Toronto Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.
Cardiovasc Pathol. 1997 May-Jun;6(3):167-74. doi: 10.1016/s1054-8807(96)00115-9.
Cardiac valve interstitial cell tissue is present throughout the valve. The molecular biology of this cell type is not well known. The purpose of this review is to present our current understanding of the structure and function of valvular interstitial cells and to describe experimental approaches available to study the structure and regulation of interstitial cell function and the interaction of interstitial cells with the valve matrix and with the surface endocardial endothelial cells. Data available to date suggest that valvular interstitial cells are contractile, have some of the characteristic features of smooth-muscle cells, communicate with each other, secrete valvular matrix, regulate repair processes following valve injury, and exhibit heterogeneous phenotypes. Further studies are required to understand the regulation of structure and function of these cells in both health and disease. This information will indeed be useful in preventing valvular disease, in improving the design of therapeutic surgical valve reconstruction, and in designing prosthetic valves.
心脏瓣膜间质细胞组织遍布整个瓣膜。这种细胞类型的分子生物学尚不清楚。本综述的目的是介绍我们目前对瓣膜间质细胞结构和功能的理解，并描述可用于研究间质细胞功能的结构和调节以及间质细胞与瓣膜基质和表面心内膜内皮细胞相互作用的实验方法。迄今为止可得的数据表明，瓣膜间质细胞具有收缩性，具有一些平滑肌细胞的特征，相互之间可进行通讯，分泌瓣膜基质，调节瓣膜损伤后的修复过程，并表现出异质性表型。需要进一步研究以了解这些细胞在健康和疾病状态下结构和功能的调节。这些信息对于预防瓣膜疾病、改进治疗性外科瓣膜重建的设计以及设计人工瓣膜确实将是有用的。
