The effects of macrophages on cardiomyocyte calcium ‐handling function using in vitro culture models

This study provides insights into currently not well‐known cell–cell interactions in the post‐MI inflammatory microenvironment. AbstractFollowing myocardial infarction (MI), myocardial inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of MI injury and macrophages are among the key cells activated during the initial phases of the host response regulating the healing process. While macrophages have emerged as attractive effectors in tissue injury and repair, the contribution of macrophages on cardiac cell function and survival is not fully understood due to complexity of the in vivo inflammatory microenvironment. Understanding the key cells involved and how they communicate with one another is of paramount importance for the development of effective clinical treatments. Here, novel in vitro myocardial inflammation models were developed to examine how both direct and indirect interactions with polarized macrophage subsets present in the post ‐MI microenvironment affect cardiomyocyte function. The indirect model using conditioned medium from polarized macrophage subsets allowed examination of the effects of macrophage‐derived factors on stem cell‐derived cardiomyocyte function for up to 3 days. The results from the indirect model demonstrated that pro‐inflammatory macrophage‐derived factors led to a significant downregulation of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (Serca2) gene expression. It also demonstrated that ...
Source: Physiological Reports - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Original Research Source Type: research