Transient fibrosis resolves via fibroblast inactivation in the regenerating zebrafish heart.
Héctor Sánchez-IranzoMaría Galardi-CastillaAndrés Sanz-MorejónJuan Manuel González-RosaRicardo CostaAlexander ErnstJulio Sainz de AjaXavier LangaNadia MercaderPublished in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2018)
In the zebrafish (Danio rerio), regeneration and fibrosis after cardiac injury are not mutually exclusive responses. Upon cardiac cryoinjury, collagen and other extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins accumulate at the injury site. However, in contrast to the situation in mammals, fibrosis is transient in zebrafish and its regression is concomitant with regrowth of the myocardial wall. Little is known about the cells producing this fibrotic tissue or how it resolves. Using novel genetic tools to mark periostin b- and collagen 1alpha2 (col1a2)-expressing cells in combination with transcriptome analysis, we explored the sources of activated fibroblasts and traced their fate. We describe that during fibrosis regression, fibroblasts are not fully eliminated but become inactivated. Unexpectedly, limiting the fibrotic response by genetic ablation of col1a2-expressing cells impaired cardiomyocyte proliferation. We conclude that ECM-producing cells are key players in the regenerative process and suggest that antifibrotic therapies might be less efficient than strategies targeting fibroblast inactivation.
Keyphrases
- extracellular matrix
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- stem cells
- left ventricular
- signaling pathway
- oxidative stress
- magnetic resonance imaging
- magnetic resonance
- atrial fibrillation
- mesenchymal stem cells
- wound healing
- gene expression
- computed tomography
- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- copy number
- bone marrow
- cell proliferation
- angiotensin ii
- liver fibrosis
- blood brain barrier