Epicardium
Epicardium - Related Videos
06:31
In Vitro Culture of Epicardial Cells From Mouse Embryonic Heart
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Cited by 13 •
2016
The epicardium is an essential source of multipotent cardiovascular progenitor cells and paracrine factors that are required for cardiovascular development and regeneration. We describe here a method to culture mouse embryonic epicardial cells.
07:44
Epicardial Outgrowth Culture Assay and Ex Vivo Assessment of Epicardial-derived Cell Migration
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Cited by 9 •
2016
Here, we describe methods for isolating primary mouse epicardial cells by an outgrowth culture assay and assessing the functional migration of epicardial-derived cells (EPDC) using an ex vivo heart culture system. These protocols are suitable for identifying genetic and chemical modulators of epicardial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and motility.
04:58
Generation of Porcine Ventricular Slices: A Vibratome-based Technique to Prepare Ultra-thin Slices of Pig Heart Tissue
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2025
This video demonstrates a vibratome-based procedure to generate viable, ultra-thin sections of pig heart. The prepared tissue slices can be cultured and used as model systems for pharmacological testing.
01:27
Anatomy of the Heart
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2019
The human heart is made up of three layers of tissue that are surrounded by the pericardium, a membrane that protects and confines the heart. The outermost layer, closest to the pericardium, is the epicardium. The pericardial cavity separates the pericardium from the epicardium. Beneath the epicardium is the myocardium, the middle layer, and the endocardium, the innermost layer. There are four chambers of the heart: the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle.
08:33
Bidirectional Electrical and Optoelectronic Interfaces in Healthy and Ischemic Ex Vivo Rat Hearts
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2025
This protocol outlines advanced material fabrication and ex vivo rat heart methods for optical and electrical bidirectional biointerfacing, enabling precise cardiac stimulation, recording, and infarction modeling for bioelectronics research.
FAQs
During embryogenesis, epicardial cells can undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a change that enables them to leave their original epithelial arrangement and migrate into the underlying myocardium. This movement places them where they can generate or support coronary vascular smooth muscle, fibroblasts, and other connective-tissue populations. The process therefore links epicardial behavior with structural development of the heart.
Epicardial cells do not act in isolation during heart development. Their signaling interactions with surrounding cardiac tissues help influence the formation and organization of coronary-associated populations, including vascular smooth muscle and connective-tissue cells. Examining these signals helps explain how the developing myocardium acquires supporting structures needed for coronary vascular development rather than treating vessel formation as an independent event.
The embryonic epicardium is associated mainly with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cell migration, and the development of coronary vascular smooth muscle, fibroblasts, and other connective-tissue populations. In adult hearts, epicardial signaling is linked to inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue repair after injury. This contrast makes the epicardium relevant both to heart formation and to responses that follow cardiac damage.
Studies can examine how epicardial cells migrate into the myocardium, how signaling interactions influence cardiac tissues, and how associated cell populations arise or receive support. In developmental research, these outcomes clarify heart formation and coronary vessel development. In adult-heart research, investigators can instead focus on relationships among epicardial signaling, inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue repair after injury.
After injury, signaling from the adult epicardium can influence inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue repair. These processes represent distinct aspects of the cardiac response: inflammation reflects activity associated with injury, fibrosis concerns connective-tissue changes, and repair concerns restoration of damaged tissue. Studying their relationships may reveal how epicardial activity shapes recovery in the injured heart.
The epicardium connects developmental biology with the possibility of cardiac regeneration. Its embryonic contributions to coronary vascular smooth muscle, fibroblasts, and other connective-tissue populations provide a basis for studying how cardiac structures form. Its adult signaling roles in inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue repair provide a separate context for exploring potential regenerative therapies in cardiovascular disease.