Cardiac fibroblast heterogeneity in cardiac fibrosis implication for cell-type-specific treatment
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Cardiac fibrosis is a central feature of heart disease, driven by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation and associated with mechanical stiffening, electrical instability, and heart failure. While cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) were historically viewed as a uniform ECM-producing population, lineage tracing and single-cell/spatial transcriptomics reveal substantial fibroblast heterogeneity in healthy myocardium and distinct activation trajectories in disease. This review summarizes fibroblast states in the uninjured heart and the dynamic emergence of specialized fibroblast subpopulations after ischemic injury (myocardial infarction) and during chronic pressure overload. We highlight immune-fibroblast crosstalk as key determinants of fibroblast fate, and discuss how these insights enable precision anti-fibrotic strategies that target pathogenic subtypes while preserving adaptive repair.
Source: Frontiers in Physiology
Authors: Kai Gu, Dongyan Song, Jisheng Chen
Institution: Hangzhou Medical College
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7140500327