This is a virtual seminar; link will be made available by email.
Cardiac fibroblasts in development and disease:
Cincinnati-Freiburg crosstalk
The early post-natal period (P0-P15) in mice is characterized by increased collagen deposition by fibroblasts that surround cardiomyocytes as they become binucleated and initiate hypertrophic growth. Neonatal fibroblasts exhibit heterogeneity in their expression of typical fibroblast markers, such as Tcf21, vimentin, Pdgfr alpha, and periostin (Postn). Lineage tracing with Tcf21 tamoxifen-inducible MerCreMer (MCM) and PostnMCM demonstrate differential localization and gene expression profiles in neonatal and juvenile mice. In adult mice, Tcf21MCM is active in cardiac fibroblasts at baseline or with pathologic stimuli, but PostnMCM is detected specifically in activated fibroblasts after pressure overload. Ablation of the PostnMCM-expressing cardiac fibroblasts after birth leads to altered cardiac sympathetic nerve patterning and a reduction in binucleation and hypertrophic growth with increased fetal troponin expression in cardiomyocytes. Together, these data provide evidence for diversity in cardiac fibroblast phenotypes and crosstalk functions in heart development and homeostasis.
The recorded seminar can be viewed here.
