How supporter cells instruct heart muscle cells to behave normally

Control of cardiac myocyte electrical and contractile properties by cardiac fibroblasts via soluble mediators

There are two types of cell in the heart, cells that contract to make it beat (myocytes) and cells that don't contract, but provide support for the myocytes (fibroblasts). These researchers at Imperial College London propose that fibroblasts and myocytes communicate with each other directly by physical contact, but also by the chemicals that they secrete. Because heart cells change in conditions such as heart failure the chemical signals they produce may change as well, and these changes may explain some of the differences in the way healthy and diseased heart cells work. The main goal of this studentship is to look in detail at the effects that fibroblasts from normal and diseased hearts have on myocytes through the chemical signals they produce. By understanding more about this method of cell communication, and how it is altered in diseased hearts, the researchers could identify signals they could target with drugs to treat people with heart disease.