Cardiac Fibroblasts
Cardiac Fibroblasts - Related Videos
10:45
Isolation and Characterization of Adult Cardiac Fibroblasts and Myofibroblasts
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Cited by 20 •
2020
Obtaining a pure population of fibroblasts is crucial to studying their role in wound repair and fibrosis. Described here is a detailed method to isolate fibroblasts and myofibroblasts from uninjured and injured mouse hearts followed by characterization of their purity and functionality by immunofluorescence, RTPCR, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, and collagen gel contraction.
15:43
Experimental Generation of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) from Human Mammary Fibroblasts
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Cited by 25 •
2011
Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) rich in myofibroblasts present within the tumour stroma, play a major role in driving tumour progression. We developed a coimplantation tumour xengraft model for experimentally generating CAFs from human mammary fibroblasts. The protocol describes how to establish CAF myofibroblasts that acquire an ability to promote tumourigenesis.
10:37
Fabrication of 3D Cardiac Microtissue Arrays using Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes, Cardiac Fibroblasts, and Endothelial Cells
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Cited by 18 •
2021
Here, we describe an easy-to-use methodology to generate 3D self-assembled cardiac microtissue arrays composed of pre-differentiated human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. This user-friendly and low cell requiring technique to generate cardiac microtissues can be implemented for disease modeling and early stages of drug development.
04:40
Creation of Cardiac Tissue Exhibiting Mechanical Integration of Spheroids Using 3D Bioprinting
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Cited by 55 •
2017
This protocol describes 3D bioprinting of cardiac tissue without the use of biomaterials. 3D bioprinted cardiac patches exhibit mechanical integration of component spheroids and are highly promising in cardiac tissue regeneration and as 3D models of heart disease.
09:38
Simultaneous Isolation of High Quality Cardiomyocytes, Endothelial Cells, and Fibroblasts from an Adult Rat Heart
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Cited by 8 •
2017
Several protocols have been developed and described for the isolation of different cardiac cell types from a rat heart. Here, an optimized protocol is described that allows the isolation of high-quality major cardiac cell types (cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts) from a single preparation, reducing the experimental costs.
FAQs
Developmental signals guide cardiac fibroblast specification, migration, and activation at different stages of heart formation. Specification establishes their developmental identity, migration positions them within emerging cardiac tissues, and activation enables them to modify the surrounding matrix and communicate with neighboring cells. Disrupting any stage could alter tissue organization and maturation, making these transitions important for understanding congenital heart defects.
Matrix remodeling gives cardiac fibroblasts a structural role beyond simply producing extracellular material. By organizing matrix proteins, they help shape the environment in which myocardial cells develop and function. Changes in this organization can influence tissue maturation and the mechanical setting experienced by cardiomyocytes, linking fibroblast activity to both normal heart formation and impaired contractile performance.
Paracrine factors, meaning signals released to act on nearby cells, allow cardiac fibroblasts to influence cardiomyocytes and vascular cells without becoming those cell types themselves. Through this local communication, fibroblast activity can affect cardiomyocyte growth, vascularization, and tissue maturation. This mechanism helps explain why altered fibroblast behavior may change cardiac development even when the primary disturbance is not in cardiomyocytes.
Mechanical stress, inflammation, and injury can shift cardiac fibroblast behavior toward responses associated with fibrosis. Such changes may modify extracellular matrix organization and alter the heart’s electrical and contractile performance. Examining these responses helps connect environmental conditions within cardiac tissue to functional outcomes and distinguishes fibroblast activity involved in normal development from activity associated with pathological remodeling.
Developmental studies can examine whether cardiac fibroblast specification, migration, activation, or matrix organization occurs at the appropriate stage and location. Because these processes help establish the environment required for myocardial development, disturbances may indirectly affect cardiomyocyte growth, vascularization, or tissue maturation. This provides a framework for relating altered connective-tissue development to congenital structural abnormalities.
Cardiac fibroblasts are relevant because their matrix remodeling and paracrine signaling can support tissue maturation but may also contribute to fibrosis after stress or injury. Therapeutic strategies can therefore consider how to preserve their developmental and reparative effects while limiting changes that impair electrical or contractile performance. Their dual influence makes them important targets for regenerative and anti-fibrotic research.