Bowers Stephanie L K, Meng Qinghang, Molkentin Jeffery D
Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology; University of Cincinnati, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati, OH.
Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2022 Apr;1(4):312-321. doi: 10.1038/s44161-022-00043-7. Epub 2022 Apr 13.
Cell communication is needed for organ function and stress responses, especially in the heart. Cardiac fibroblasts, cardiomyocytes, immune cells, and endothelial cells comprise the major cell types in ventricular myocardium that together coordinate all functional processes. Critical to this cellular network is the non-cellular extracellular matrix (ECM) that provides structure and harbors growth factors and other signaling proteins that affect cell behavior. The ECM is not only produced and modified by cells within the myocardium, largely cardiac fibroblasts, it also acts as an avenue for communication among all myocardial cells. In this Review, we discuss how the development of therapeutics to combat cardiac diseases, specifically fibrosis, relies on a deeper understanding of how the cardiac ECM is intertwined with signaling processes that underlie cellular activation and behavior.
细胞通讯对于器官功能和应激反应至关重要，在心脏中尤为如此。心脏成纤维细胞、心肌细胞、免疫细胞和内皮细胞是心室心肌中的主要细胞类型，它们共同协调所有功能过程。对于这个细胞网络至关重要的是无细胞的细胞外基质（ECM），它提供结构并容纳影响细胞行为的生长因子和其他信号蛋白。ECM不仅由心肌内的细胞（主要是心脏成纤维细胞）产生和修饰，它还充当所有心肌细胞之间通讯的途径。在本综述中，我们讨论了对抗心脏病（特别是纤维化）的治疗方法的发展如何依赖于对心脏ECM与细胞激活和行为基础的信号传导过程如何相互交织的更深入理解。
