Why is it important to understand resident cardiac fibroblasts and how they change with aging? In this thought-provoking podcast, Deputy Editor Merry Lindsey (University of Mississippi Medical Center) interviews lead author Katarzyna Cieslik (Baylor College of Medicine) and content expert Michael Czubryt (University of Manitoba) about the insightful Review article by Trial and Cieslik. Fibroblasts are no longer considered mere support cells producing matrix protein, explains Cieslik. Rather, fibroblasts have complex physiology and a phenotype altered by aging. Listen as our experts unravel the many faces of fibroblasts, from promoting inflammation to producing extracellular matrix protein. Can observations made in young healthy fibroblasts be extrapolated across ages and pathologies? Listen and find out.

 

JoAnn Trial and Katarzyna A. Cieslik Changes in Cardiac Resident Fibroblast Physiology and Phenotype in Aging Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published June 15, 2018. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00237.2018